and it's, again, a worthless piece of trivia I thought I'd share with you if you're into such things. We're gonna start the book of Colossians tonight, and I'm excited about it, and hopefully you will do. This book answers a parallel question for the believer in Christ that Jesus asked, as you can see in our handout, a group of unbelievers when he walked on this earth, And it's recorded for us here in Matthew chapter 22, and we can pick it up in verse 41. It says, while the Pharisees were gathering together, Jesus asked them, saying, what do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? And they said to him, the son of David. And he said to them, how then does David in the spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand until I make your, my right hand until I make her into your footstool. If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son? No one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare ask him any more. It's a classic case of you messing with the bull and getting the horns, if you will. But that's the question every unbeliever needs to deal with, verse 20, or 42 rather. What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? You know, if you're familiar with the Gospels and even our series that we've been going through on the life of Christ, most Pharisees did not believe in Christ. Some were still waiting for the Messiah to come. They didn't believe he was it. Unfortunately, there was a lot of them were just not all that interested. Now Jesus isn't asking them, what do you think of me personally? In the sense that they didn't believe he was the Christ, though that is a factor that is to be considered here. He's asking a question in general to get them to think that whose son would the Messiah be when he appeared? And of course they answered correctly. They said he'd be a descendant of David. And so Jesus here quotes Psalm 110 verse one. and asked him, well, how does this all make sense? Now, the first word, Lord, is capital there in verse 44, and that's referring to God the Father, and the second, Lord, is referring to the Messiah. So David spoke of the Messiah as his Lord. And so if David called him Lord, how is he his son? And the answer, obviously, is the Messiah is both David's son and God's son. He's both God and man. As God, he's David's Lord. As man, he's David's son. That's why, again, they answer correctly when they said he is the son of David. He came through the lineage of David. Now, if the Pharisees had been teachable, they would have realized that Jesus was the Messiah. He was the son of David through the line of Mary and through his words and his works and his miracles and so forth and his preaching, they would have recognized that he was in fact the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures and he was in fact the Messiah, but they did not want to see it. They were completely baffled by his wisdom and they said, we're done here. Because they did not believe that Jesus was the Christ. I don't know why. But he is, none is how's it go, none is so blind as he who will not see. And it's always a hard issue. He was the one that wanted to save them from their sins and he was the, and will one day fulfill the promise of Israel's king. But at this point, they would not have it. And so each unbeliever faces the same question. Jesus did it more directly in John chapter eight, if you want to turn there, John chapter eight. Again, the unbeliever faces the question, what does he think of Christ? And here in John 8, the Pharisees are not happy with him at all. And they're taking him on. And we'll pick it up in verse 21. Then Jesus said to them again, I am going away and you shall seek me and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come. Now Jesus said, will he kill himself? Because he says, where I can go, can I come? They were under the false belief that if you killed yourself, you couldn't go to heaven. And they thought perhaps he was going to hell. And since the Pharisees thought they were going to heaven, we're not going to be able to go to his because he's not going to heaven. I mean, that's the line of thinking that they had there. So he tells them he's going away. referring not only to his death and burial and resurrection, but to his ascension into heaven, and people would seek for the Messiah. And he's, again, identifying himself as such, and they will not find him because they had rejected him. And because they rejected him, he says, you will die in your sin. They will die unforgiven, outside of Christ, and therefore, They will spend eternity separated from him in a lake of fire. How dreadful. How dreadful. He goes on to explain. Verse 23, you are from beneath, I am from above, you are of this world, I am not of this world. They were concerned with earthly things, they were concerned with their own agenda, they thought on a merely horizontal plane. Jesus was God who came in the flesh, God who became a man, God who came down. He thought on a different plane. This is again an indirect claim to deity that he's giving them. And then he repeats it for emphasis. Therefore, I said to you, he's saying, listen, I'm God, you don't believe it. I said to you that you will die in your sins for if you do not believe that I am, the word he there is not in the original. He's claiming with that statement I am to be Jehovah manifested in the flesh. You again will die in your sins. And the reason he could say that is because he is the only one that can take away sin. This is why John the Baptist when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he and he alone. And what Christ did on the cross of Calvary was sufficient to save every human being on the planet. He died for all men, for all time, paying the penalty they justly deserve. He died in their place, bore the equivalent of hell, rose from the grave, and his work and his work alone is sufficient to save. That's the good news of the gospel. That's it. And that's what needs to be understood. And that, unfortunately, is not understood by many people today. They even go to evangelical churches. And what's common in interacting with Mike and getting emails from Joe as well, as they give out a survey with all these false responses to these conferences, and very few have them right. They might say faith in Christ, but they got all these things thrown in the mix. And the beauty of the conference is, as they're teaching on what must I now say, people are chomping a bit to run up to them and say, can I change my answer? Can I change my answer? I mean, how encouraging is that? A soft heart toward the word of God, the spirit of God is gonna take and illuminate their thinking and deliver their soul. That's what it's all about. But we need to speak the truth in love. and we need to preach the gospel. And it's good to be, we need to preach the gospel to those who think they're saved and they're not. Right here in America. Christ cried out, it is finished. The work's been done. His work and his work alone is sufficient to save. And so the question on your handout here to the unbelievers, what do you think of Christ? Is he, is who he is and what he has done sufficient to save? And the answer is, everybody, Yes, right? Any argument here? Anyone wanna challenge me on that? Good. Well, what about the next question? To the believer, what do you think of Christ as who he is and what you possess in him sufficient for your Christian life? And you know how many answers you get are indirectly, no. Now, does that make any sense? If Christ did everything necessary, and his work was completely sufficient to save you from sin's penalty, why would it be any different when it comes to the power of sin in your life? Interesting, isn't it? That's really what, in essence, the book of Colossians is all about, is because false teachers are coming in and saying, Christ is not enough. You need some more, and by the way, we got the goods. And so gather around, the man with the goodies is here, and we'll be able to help you get to the next level of spirituality through our philosophy and through our other things, which actually dethrone Christ. That's one of the themes of this book, is that Christ is at the preeminence in all things. And so it's very important. I mean, if Christ is sufficient to save you from hell, his faith in Christ, again, coupled with a spirit of God illuminating your thinking to the principles of God's word, sufficient to give you everything you need to fulfill the will of God on earth as his child? The answer is yes. But again, there was those that came into the Church of Colossae saying, oh, no, no, you're missing something. And we got the goods. And so, that's how I'm introducing the book, because that's the theme that runs through this whole thing. And by God's grace, as we go through, it'll be emphasized again and again, so you will be encouraged to realize Again, in Christ you have all things to pertain to life and godliness. So let's go now to the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter one. Notice verses one and two of Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are Colossae, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see here that the human writer of this epistle is the apostle Paul. In these days, in our culture, we sign our name at the end. In their culture, they sign their name, well, they sign it at the end, but they let you know who it was from right out of the gate. So Paul, he refers to himself as the human writer of this epistle, and he mentions Timothy, his companion. And so what do we know about the Apostle Paul? Well, he was born in 3 AD to a family that was well-to-do. He was born in Tarsus. He was a Roman citizen. He was raised in a strict Jewish home. He was circumcised the eighth day. It was a tribe of Benjamin. We learn that in Philippians chapter three. He was trained under Gamaliel, a Pharisee. He was a respected member of the Sanhedrin. In fact, Gamaliel was called one of the seven scholars of the nation's history to receive the highest honor in terms of being a rabbi. And so Paul was very well trained. We know that Paul himself became a Pharisee. We know that from Philippians chapter three. He was intensely loyal to Judaism and the traditions of the elders, so much so that he persecuted the church, we're told in Philippians 3.6. And at first, he did this with a pure conscience until the Spirit of God got a hold of him and Jesus Christ knocked him to the ground and said, what are you doing? And that's why later he considered it blasphemy. And he says, I'm not even worthy to be an apostle. He was converted on the road to Damascus when he was going to persecute Christians. And then he was set apart at that very moment in a very unique way that has not been repeated. And so in his early days, he was known as Saul. The word Saul means asked for. Maybe he was his parents' only child and they asked and asked and asked and God finally delivered. On his first missionary journey, he changed his name to Paul, which means little one, which we'll see here in Acts 13 shortly. So he went from asked for to a little one. And I think Now some think, as we'll see here, that he took that name because his first convert on a mercenary journey was a guy named Sergius Paulus. But I think he took this name because he recognized that he was what he was by the grace of God. In fact, why don't we just put a marker here and go to Acts 13. We'll just see that. In Acts 13, this is the beginning of Paul. This is Paul being set aside and sent out and commissioned by the Lord. And verse four says he was sent out by the Holy Spirit. He went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus and so forth. Verse six, now when they had gone throughout the island of Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bargeses, who was of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God. But Elemas, the sorcerer, for his name is translated, withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, this is when he took on Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? Now sometimes, you know, it just comes to mind here, you know, when you make a statement that appears to be offensive, if you quote name call, and say, well, how would God ever do that? Well, Paul, being led of the Holy Spirit, calls him the son of the devil. And I don't know if I've ever called anyone a son of the devil. But I just thought I'd bring that out. That's an overreaction by some. Not that you want to be offensive, but there's nothing wrong in principle by calling someone who they really are in that sense. You need to be wise about that. Verse 11, and now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw all had been done, believing, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. And so here he changed his name to Paul. The guy who first got his name was Sergius Paulus. Some people think that's why he did it. But I think Paul took that name because it emphasizes humility. In fact, this is reflected in Paul as he matured in Christ. This is what he did. This is written in 56 AD, 1 Corinthians 59 and 10. He says, I am the least of the apostles. I'm not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. So at 56 AD, when he's writing this, he says, this is his view, I'm the least of the apostles. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but it was the grace of God that was with me. Now, five years later, when he writes the book of Ephesians, he takes another step down, to me, less than the least of all saints. That's how he viewed himself. So he said, you know what, I'm the least apostle. As I grow closer to the Lord and see myself for who I really am, I'm the least of all saints. God gave me amazing grace to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. And so as you are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Savior, he must increase, John 3 says, and we must decrease. And so if you're growing in the Lord, it's gonna be less and less about you and more and more about Christ. And so if it's more about you, you've lost sight of who you really are in Christ because you are what you are by the grace of God. And then a couple years later, whoops, I don't even, hmm. Forgot to put this in here, so why don't we turn to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter one. Notice his perspective here, beginning in verse one. Twelve, and I thank Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has enabled me, notice he wasn't self-enabled, the Lord enabled him, because he counted me faithful. Notice he didn't, he wasn't, he allowed the Lord to put him into the ministry. He wasn't out to make a name for himself and to blaze a trail. and get his name in the lights. Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief. And the grace of the Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. And this is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Notice, of whom I have chief. He went from the least of the apostles to the least of the saints to the chief of sinners. And that's present tense. Now can you relate to Paul's perspective? If you're growing in the Lord, and you're enjoying fellowship with him, and you're impressed with his beauty, and his majesty, and his holiness, you're gonna have a proper perspective of yourself, and you're gonna abhor yourself, like Job did when he saw the Lord. In your flesh dwells no good thing. And so as Paul matured through these years, the grace of God humbled him, He understood more clearly who Christ was and who he was in and of himself. And he came to understand this principle. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, end of story. He makes us sufficient to be ministers. This is really the underlying message when it comes to the book of Colossians. It's all about Christ. we're complete in Him. The issue is Christ, it's not our, anything else we might think we have going for us. And so if you're growing in the Lord, you should be more and more painfully aware of your unworthiness. And at the same time, be super excited how you're accepted in the beloved one and nothing can separate you from his love and he's faithful to work in you and through you and to conform you in the image of Jesus. And in the meantime, use you for his glory. That's the beauty of grace. It's not, you know, someone up here with a whip trying to say, get going. It's having a love affair with Jesus. That's Christianity. Now when it comes to his title, Paul called himself, as we go back to Colossians, here, chapter one, called himself an apostle, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now the word apostle means one sent forth on a mission. One sent forth. And in this case, it was a commission by Jesus Christ himself, because it says here, it's by the will of God. It's by the will of God. Jesus sent Paul on three missionary journeys, and he was known as the apostle to the Gentiles, and he specifically went to Gentile territory, but he preached to the Jews first, and also to the Greeks. Now, when you think of the word apostle, there's a general sense of the term, like Barnabas. Barnabas wasn't a, he was called an apostle, but he was not an apostle in a strict technical sense. There's a very strict technical use of the term that applies to the 12, and to Paul. To be an apostle in the strict sense, you had to see the resurrected Christ and be directly commissioned by him and be used by God to lay the foundation of the church. The foundation of the church is laid and so the apostles are no longer needed. How did Paul become an apostle? Well, we're flipping a little bit tonight. So go to Galatians chapter one. It's nice to read these things in your own Bible. But you see, to be an apostle in the strict sense, your ministry had to be authenticated by miracles. So in Hebrews chapter two, verses three and four, The writer here says, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord and was attested to us by those who heard, talking about the apostles, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit. Those were given to the apostles to authenticate the message. He distributed these things according to his will. because Jews require a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. And so God designed miracles and certain signs to authenticate the fact that this was from God. But you also, And this is what Paul, and unfortunately had to defend himself to the carnal Corinthians, and it says, the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles. He shouldn't have had to say this to them because he's the one who led these people to the Lord. And yet they're questioning his apostleship because he wasn't this great orator like some of the other people that came through Corinth. And he has to say it again in the first epistle in 1 Corinthians 9.1, he says, am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen our Lord? See, to be an apostle, you need to see the resurrected Christ and be commissioned by him. This is why there's no apostles today. Jesus is not revealing himself to people and directly commissioning them. Aren't you the result of my work in the Lord? And the answer is yes. In fact, when Paul was giving his testimony, And Acts, what did he say? He's telling him what the Lord told him on the very time of his conversion. The Lord says, now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. So again, Jesus Christ appointed him. And so he was a true apostle in that regard. And it was by the will of God. And notice what Galatians 1.1 here says, Paul, an apostle, notice, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. Notice he says, not of men, or neither by men. See, when it says not of men, the Greek word of there is the Greek word apode, it means From, in other words, man did not give me this title. It didn't originate with man. It didn't come through a man. No one made Paul an apostle. It was God's call. Jesus Christ appointed him, and it was in the will of God. In fact, in verse 11, the same chapter, he says, but I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached to me is not according to man. I neither received it from a man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ told him very specifically what the gospel was. He didn't learn it in a book somewhere. Again, apostles received direct revelation from God. They were the highest authority in the church. The other apostles became, the others became apostles during, Lord's earthly ministry before he ascended. Paul was the one, and he calls himself one born out of due time. He was the only apostle in a strict sense to become an apostle after the resurrection of Christ. And later in this epistle he talks about how the apostles from Jerusalem gave him the right hand of fellowship and acknowledged his apostleship. So this was by the will of God. It was independent of men, so no one could promote him or demote him. But again, this gift is passed off the seat. Now, you and I are equipped. The moment everyone gets saved, everyone gets at least one spiritual gift to be used in the body of Christ. But I can tell you, on the authority of scripture, you're not an apostle. That's not the gift you receive, all right? You have been gifted, though, for our edification, and that's good. Now, let's go back to Colossians 1. Who is his companion? Timothy. This is Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother. Timothy, our brother. Well, what do we know about him? The word Timothy means honoring God. It's a compound word that means to honor God. And that's kind of how he lived up to his namesake. He personified that divine decree. He was a native of Lystra. He was a son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother. A Greek father and a Jewish mother. And what made a difference in his life was his mother and grandmother because his His father was an unsaved Gentile. You know, Paul here in writing his last words to Timothy, last epistle he wrote, he says, when I called to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelled first in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice. You know, I remember, it was years ago, but I was talking with a single mother, and I used this verse to say, you know what? You are alone in a sense, but I said, notice Lois and Eunice deliver the goods. And God, you can look to God for the strength you need and the wisdom to do this as well. You know, his first teachers, Timothy's first teachers were his mother and his grandmother. In fact, if you go to 2 Timothy 3, he talks about how they influenced their life. He says, who you heard these truths from? It was his mother and his grandmother. In fact, Paul said this later in this same epistle. He said, from infancy you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. From infancy, from the time he was a baby, what did his mother and his grandmother do? Put the scriptures in his mind. They rooted convictions in his heart. And because they were godly women, those convictions and those principles that took hold. His mother was godly, his grandmother was godly, they taught him the scriptures. And they had impact on Timothy, again, because what was coming out of their mouth was confirmed by how they conducted themselves. They passed on to Timothy what was important to them, and that's true for all of us. Whatever's important to us, we're passing on to our children, whether we're aware of it or not. You always make time for what you think is important, and we can all talk a good game, but our actions always indicate what's really in our heart, because Jesus said, it's out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth, And by the time Timothy was a teenager, he had convictions in place because he was instructed at home through the scriptures by his mom and his grandma. And so then Paul came along and it seems Paul sealed the deal. Lois and Eunice had faith and Paul apparently led him to Christ on his first missionary journey. And he drew unto himself and invariably poured himself into Timothy. so that he took Timothy with him on his next missionary journeys. In fact, this is what he said about Timothy, and he didn't say it about anybody else. Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I also may be encouraged when I hear news about you, for I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests, all seek their own, not those of Jesus Christ. Paul took Timothy under his wing and he trained him and what was important to Paul became important to Timothy. The Lord that Paul loved became the Lord that Timothy loved and Timothy was greatly used in that regard. So that's what we know about him. He was saved by the grace of God and God used him mightily because he was a willing vessel. And it all started with his mother and his grandmother. Doesn't that encourage you? It's encouraging to me. Who are the recipients of this letter? Verse two, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae. Well, how are they referred to? The Colossians are described in four ways here. First, they were called saints. Saints. Speaks of their positional, spiritual position. The word saints here literally means set apart ones. It talks about those being sanctified positionally. Speaks of their spiritual position before God. A saint means to have an acceptable spiritual position before a holy God. It's not the religious view that you lived a super holy life and we had 400 years after you died, we had a vote and decided that you were canonized and you now became a saint. That's not what the Bible teaches. Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is a saint. We could theoretically address one another tonight as Saint Nick. Ah, all right, bad joke, sorry. What's the next way? They're called faithful here, right? To the saints and faithful brethren. The word faithful is mentioned, faithful. Now, when you read this, it almost appears that he's talking about two different groups of people, but the definite article appears before saints and not before that, so they're talking about the same group of people. It's another way to describe the saints. And so these were not only saints, but they were also faithful. They were faithful. They were a faithful group of saints. This church actually was doing pretty well. And this becomes apparent. Though there were false teachers trying to ruin the whole thing. How else do they describe? Brothers, right? Brothers. Brethren in the Lord. Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were brothers one of another. And what's cool about this is that Paul never met these believers, and yet he knows that they were his brothers, because they were in Christ. And we've got brothers around the world. I've talked to brothers in Africa, brothers in Burma, brothers in South America. We're all brothers, those who are saved. Isn't that encouraging? And so, though he never met them, he never met them, He loved them as brothers in Christ. In fact, it says in chapter two that he yearned for them. He wanted to meet them. He had a genuine concern for them, though he never met them. And finally, they're called what? In Christ. In Christ. What a bummer. That's their spiritual identification, in Christ. The moment you're placed into Christ, you receive all things that pertain in the life of godliness. You belong to Christ. It's your identification. He is your means. He is your possessions. You're seated with him in the heavenlies. All the riches, all things that pertain in the life of godliness are all yours because you're in Christ. And Paul is making that observation right out of the gate. The key to us living our Christian life is to see ourselves in Christ. That is so important. And that's brought out here. It's really expanded upon, Colossians is, in a way, a shortened version of Ephesians. But the emphasis of being in Christ is here, and it's something that God wants every believer to grasp. If you don't grasp yourself as in Christ, that opens the door to other philosophies and things that will actually dethrone Christ in your life. Without Christ, you can do nothing. He's in you and through you. Christian life is a matter of walking in Christ, as we will see. That's what Ephesians 2, or excuse me, chapter two, verse, 6 tells us. Now the last thing mentioned here, it says they are physically in where? Colossae. What do we know about this city? Well, it wasn't a real big city. I find that kind of encouraging. We don't live in a very big city. But it wasn't insignificant in God's eyes. This is where, this is southwest Turkey, by the way, at the time of Paul, it's called Asia Minor. Paul, I think I have that, don't I? I'll get to that in a second. This is about 100 miles to Colossae. This is called the Lycus Valley. It's in the area of Phrygria, it's called. And 10 miles away, it's Herapolis, or wait, maybe Laodicea. No, wait, there's another town that's not on this map called, yeah, Laodicea. I think Laodicea was 10 miles, Herapolis was 13 miles away. They were all part, of the river valley right here. I don't know if you can see that or not. Well, that's really dark. But even though it was small, God's concern is never based on human distinctions or size. Every local church is close to the heart of God, including ours, and that's a good thing to remember. In fact, this is so significant that God put it in the canon of Scripture, because we know he wrote another epistle that isn't here, at least one. Now this is primarily made about, so here's a closeup of this, Herapolis, Laodicea, and Colossae. This is the Lycus River, and so this was a valley, and all those cities were all together kind of around that. Well, what do we know about this church? Well, how did it get started? Well, we got an idea here in Acts chapter 19 verses 8 through 10. Paul here says he entered the synagogue. This is at Ephesus, okay? Paul entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. And so Paul taught for two years, And one of the guys that showed up to hear him from Colossae was Epaphras. He's mentioned here in verse seven. He's the one who brought the gospel there, and he's the one actually that traveled to visit Paul in prison to report so that Paul could write this letter of Colossians, known as verse seven. As you also learn from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, he's the pastor of the church, who also declared to us your love and the spirit. So he came to Paul, but he obviously, or he apparently led Paul to the Lord, he trained, or excuse me, Paul led him to the Lord, Paul trained him, then he sent him out and he went to Colossae, which is where he was from, and a church got started. The church is primarily made up of Gentile believers, because the things that Paul mentions, chapter three when it gets to practical, were very characteristic of the Gentiles. And if you read historical accounts, the Jews, there was, Hierapolis was a party town, and apparently that affected the Jews immensely, and so the Talmudic historian was very grieved over that area and what it did to the Jews. But this was a church that was facing some serious indoctrinal Serious doctrinal and practical issues as well. And so what was the doctrinal problems facing this church? They were doing well, but this was knocking on the door. The first thing was Gnosticism. And again, all these teachings, what they do is they undermine the person and work of Jesus Christ. They're saying that Jesus Christ is not sufficient to deliver the goods, so you need something else. And Gnosticism taught, that a spiritual group had apprehension of superior knowledge, creating a spiritual caste system. They came in as elitists. They said, if you really want to be spiritual and get close to God, we need to let you into the inner circle here and let you into some secrets that you don't know. That's kind of the idea there. They were into legalism, ritualism, which taught that strict obedience to certain rules or rituals that would gain you favor with God. And so legalism is addressed in this book. It's addressed in this book. And I'll talk to that in a second. There was mysticism, which is a spooky, weirdo, dark-sided thing which involved visions and angels and charismatic-type experiences. You gotta go for the feeling if you're really gonna be close to God. And then there's asceticism. Asceticism believes that all matter is innately evil, which led to several wrong doctrinal beliefs and practices. So this was, the false teaching there was a combination of Jewish legalism and Greek philosophic speculation. There was Oriental mysticism, but it all had a Christian flavor to it. and they emphasize things that can undermine believers in their relationship with Christ. Legalism looks good on the outside, but that's as far as it goes. The underlying threat of legalism is that God is impressed with your performance. It fails to recognize that God is looking at the heart, and the fact that in your flesh dwells no good thing, and without Christ you can do nothing. See, grace means that I am what I am by the grace of God and it's a matter of me allowing Christ to work in me and through me and manifest his life. That's the beauty of grace in the Christian life. Mysticism looks impressive and it sounds impressive, but it's a sham. You don't need esoteric feelings to be free. It's interesting, Christ said you shall know the truth, not feel the truth. And there's a lot of weak, evangelicals or charismatics that are tied into their feelings. In fact, one of the problems Pastor Rocks mentioned over there is the whole culture in Africa is really feeling based. And so they're hearing truths that are counteracting things that they learn. And since it's going against their feelings, some of them are resistive to what it says. In fact, one commentator said this about mysticism. While at its heart, it was a combination of Judaism and paganism. It wore a mask of Christianity. It did not deny Christ, but it dethroned him. It gave Christ a place, but not the supreme place, which made it all the more dangerous. And that's exactly how it is. I mean, there's a lot of cults and a lot of people that use Christian lingo. but they're using a different dictionary, and so they end up undermining Christ. That's what cults do. And people are impressed with the philosophy. Someone sent me a video of Aaron Rodgers talking with Danica Patrick about his religious beliefs. and the guy does a really good job with it, and gives out the gospel. In high school, Aaron Rodgers was part of Young Life, and part of, I think he went to college, he was part of Campus Crusade, or Athletes in Action, or one of those things. But he never got the gospel, and then he ended up rejecting it, and he adopted some self-actualization thing. He picked a religion based on how it made him feel. You know, when you're, quote, picking a religion, Not, you're your own, it's not you're your own God, you can make your own God and make your own religion and feel good about yourself, which is the essence of what Aaron has done. The whole thing is to discover what's true and then believe it. It's not make up your own truth. And yet we live in a day and age where hey, that's good for you, that's, you know, this is my truth, that's your truth. There is only one truth, the issue is will you discover the truth that God has given us? Not come up with your own. I send it to a few people. And of course, one was a Green Bay Packer fan and now they're really upset, but that's all right. See, what's the answer to this? You know, there's even a church in town that's adopting some of the emerging church things that have these kind of really mystical rituals that are supposed to encourage you or somehow make you closer to God. Bunk. The answer is the same. It's to understand who Christ is and what you have in him. And that you don't need the philosophy of the world. It's to understand who Christ is, all that you have in him. You don't need anything else because you're complete in him. In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2 verse 3. Everything you need is in the word of God, it's in Christ. Ephesians says the truth is in Jesus. That's where it is, and you're in Christ. So anything outside of Christ is actually designed to undermine your relationship with Christ and actually draw you away from him, because we're told in verse 18, or 16 of chapter one, what is it, 18, yeah, no? Yes, verse 18. that he may, in all things, Christ is to have their preeminence. When you add something to the work of Christ, when you go outside Christ and try to supplement what you need for spiritual growth or whatever it might be, or spirituality, you're actually not giving Christ their preeminence. You're not giving Christ their preeminence. What are some of the key verses here? Well, I just mentioned one verse 18 is a key verse. Chapter two and verse six is a key verse. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus as the Lord, so walk in him. The Christian life is walking in Christ. Verse eight, beware lest anyone cheat you through the philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men and according to the basic principles of the world. And notice, not according to Christ, verse nine, for in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And notice, you are complete in him, who's the head of all principality and power, You don't need angelic revelation. Chapter three, verses one through four. If you then were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, who you are in Christ, not on things of the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. And when Christ who is our life appears, you're gonna appear with him in glory. Therefore, therefore, See, human philosophy and false theology always leads to a misemphasis in Christianity. And it either goes to legalism or it goes to license. And both those problems existed in the church, or they were knocking on the door, if you will. And one thing that is true today that was true there is that certain elements always exist in the vain imaginations of men. Since men are by nature impressed with themselves, they're bringing those things into Christianity to lead people astray. What's the greeting? Got a few minutes left here. Verse two, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's greeting is grace, one of grace. And grace always precedes peace because apart from grace there is no peace. Grace be unto you. Some say that's the Gentile greeting, some say the Jewish greeting and peace, that's one possible explanation. But notice, who's the source of these two blessings? Grace to you and peace from who? The only source of grace and the only source of peace is from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus Christ says, I give you my peace, not as the world gives peace, but I give my peace. It's true peace. It's righteous peace. It's delivering peace. It's delivering grace. They come from God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other source of these things. And there is a significance to the order because apart from grace, you can't have peace. And so one of the things I'm gonna seek to emphasize as we go through this book is to repeatedly emphasize that it's all about Christ, it's not about you. I'm gonna try to just bring that out time and time again. Because when you focus on yourself, you're gonna focus on your performance in some way. When you're focused on Christ and you're seeking to give him the preeminence, You can have a yielded mindset to allow him to work in you and through you so that the life of Christ manifests itself. Christ is to be the focus. Set your mind on things above where Christ is. Set your affections on things above where Christ is. Recognize who you are in Christ and allow him to work in you and through you for his glory. See, what you think of Christ not only determines where you'll spend eternity, It determines your spirituality, your growth, and your usefulness as God's child. And if you can transfer over the reality that Christ was all you needed to save you from sin's penalty, you need to recognize that Christ is all you need and the truth in Christ to save you from sin's power. There is no difference. You live the Christian life the same way you get saved, trusting God to do something for you that you cannot do for yourself. This is why you're to know who you are in Christ. You're to learn of those riches. You're to rest in those riches. You're to trust him in these things knowing that he is able to deliver. James said it, he says, set aside all your sins and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to deliver your souls. The powers and the word of God is the word of Christ. It's not a matter of you, you know, throwing away the TV, or, and I'll get to that. I mean, people think they're spiritual because they don't have a TV. Who cares? Nothing is unclean in itself. Now, a TV can be a tool for a disaster, I get that, but there's nothing fundamentally wrong with a TV. Just like in Africa when I had to say there was nothing fundamentally wrong with tobacco and everyone's head exploded because it's such a taboo out there. It's what you do with it. And when you're giving Christ the preeminence, all those things will fit together, and God will be directing your life with those very things. It's really not that complicated, thankfully. Well, let's pray. Father, we're just humbled as we consider your love for us, the love for these Colossians, the believers. It was a small church, and yet it was very significant to you. Thank you for how you even worked in the Apostle Paul's life, and as he grew in the grace and knowledge of you, that he became all the more aware of who he was in and of himself, and at the same time, who he was in Christ. And I pray that will be true all of us. We'd be growing in the grace and knowledge of you. We'd be growing closer to you. We'd see you in all your glory, and then we'd see ourselves for who we really are and then be encouraged as to who we are in Christ and how you've loved us and given us all things we can say based on the authority of scripture that we're complete in Christ. Thank you for that promise. So we ask you direct with the study going forward and then as we do this, that Christ would truly receive the preeminence that he deserves. We pray in his precious name, amen.