Well, if you got your Bibles and you're there in Colossians, we're gonna go to Colossians chapter two, and I'm gonna read verse one through verse number five, and it's as far as we're gonna go tonight is through verse number five and kind of the opening of this second chapter of Colossians, okay? And we've already been dealing a lot with the purpose of the book of Colossians. If I had time, I would go through a, kind of a, I'd ask a question, see who could answer it, but I'm not gonna do that tonight. But you say, why would you do that? To see who's paying attention. I've said some things enough, I've repeated some things enough concerning the purpose of this book, what the major problem was going on, who the pastor of this church was, why Paul was writing, whether or not Paul actually had ever met these people, all this stuff, we've gone over and over and over. But Paul has a purpose for writing to the church at Colossae, he has a purpose for trying to get a hold of them, I can't see when I'm sweating on my glasses. But he's trying to get a hold of them and let them know, even though he can't not be there face-to-face, that most of them, if not all of them, have never even met Paul. They've only heard of Paul, but he's had a major influence on Epaphras, the man who has been their pastor. And so Paul is writing because of the need to help a people who are being influenced by individuals coming into the church who are not there to grow with the church. They are not there to be part of the body in the right way. They are there to basically hijack this group of believers and force them in their minds to stray from the trust in Christ alone to believing in following certain aspects of works in order to keep their status with the Lord. And so Paul is fighting against this like he did in many places. And Paul is taking a stand in a loving way, but he's being very direct concerning the focus that they need to have and what they need to watch out for. So we see this. introduced a little bit in the first part of chapter two. Now verse number six and seven, we're not going to get there tonight, but verse number six and seven is kind of our key verses we take the entire study in the book of Colossians from, and that focus of, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Those two verses alone pretty much culminate the entire purpose and need for the book of Colossians and the challenge that Paul gives. But in verse number one to verse number five, we see Paul kind of continuing, yes, from the first part of the letter here, but he also begins to focus a little bit on some very specific things and kind of give an opening challenge of where he's headed with his next statements that we'll see throughout the chapter. But let's read verse 1 to verse number 5 and then I'll break down what I believe we're seeing presented to us by the Lord giving this book to us in the things that took place in the letter written to the church at Colossae. So verse number one says, For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." And so verse number five tells us, for though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. And so in these five verses, there are a few things, I'm just gonna quickly break this down. as to what I believe we're seeing that Paul is saying through what he says. Again, you gotta be careful sometimes as you're taking verse by verse, walking through, because if we're not careful, we can try to read into what's being done. So the key in doing this is looking at what's there, not trying to figure out what's not there. and say, oh, I think he's trying to get to this point. Well, he didn't get to that point. He's not trying to go there. He says this. And so we're gonna see exactly what he says and what in light of what we've already looked at in chapter one, where he's headed and really what he is reiterating in some cases and building up to in others. And so, looking at this, I would kind of give a heading if you were going to break down verse 1 to verse number 5 with an overall general heading. I would say this, in reading it, this is the point at which Paul is connecting on a personal level, all right? Connecting on a personal level. And we see it because of the way he presents himself, coming out of those first 29 verses in chapter one, now into chapter two. Again, just a reminder, we say chapter one, chapter two, verses, this was a letter. It was written, who knows, maybe the chapter one was on page one. Chapter two was on page, who knows how it broke down. But the breakdown of the chapterings and all is for easy memorization, easy reading and keeping track of where you're at. As a whole, picture it as just a simple scroll, a simple letter written that somebody would just read directly, okay? So this is gonna always be a continuance of things already said as he moves forward with thought. But in verse number one, as I believe he's very clearly connecting on a very personal level, which, by the way, if you're gonna influence somebody, and you're gonna try to be an influence, and I'm gonna say, one of the best parts about verse number one to verse number five in this is for us today, and again, let me apply it to us, the church, in this moment, as we get ready to step out of 2025 and we get ready to step into 2026, The most important thing for God's people to do is to, in some way, be effective in reaching people. Now, sometimes you need to have a listening ear before you have a talking mouth. That, okay, sometimes you need to have a listening ear before a talking mouth. Sometimes we need to sympathize and maybe even because of experiences we can empathize with somebody's condition before we ever try to just help them. Sometimes we need to be available to assist in physical needs or immediate needs in order to open doors for helping with spiritual needs. If all we do is kick the door down and throw the Bible at people, we're probably not gonna get very far. One thing that Paul did know, now understand, we all know, any of the stuff we've looked at or researched, the things we've learned about Paul, even especially going through the book of Romans, Paul was not always the easiest going person. There were times when Paul was very high strung. There were times when Paul was very blunt. There were times that Paul was very wrong in how he handled things. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been contention between him and Barnabas. Both of them were in the wrong. There was great contention. By the way, if one side or the other decides, I'm not going to be party to the contention, the contention ends. It only takes, the only way that fuel is put on the fire is if a log's thrown in. And so the fire's gonna build as long as somebody's throwing into it, okay? If one side or the other says, you know what, you're right, I'm just gonna back out, it stops. Well, evidently it didn't stop right away because it got very heated. So Paul has not always done things right. Paul has not always responded right. As we said before, Paul was warned several times of God not to go to Jerusalem, but he was stubborn, and in his own spirit he had to go, but he wasn't listening to the Spirit of God. And so Paul's not perfect, Paul has his problems, but there is something that Paul has learned throughout his ministry, and that is if you're going to be effective in receiving the listening ear of other people, you're gonna have to connect on a personal basis or you'll have no way to actually transfer what you're trying to help them with. If people, our pastor used to always say this and it's very true, people don't care how much you know. until they know how much you care. People don't care to know what all you think ought to be done unless you first show that you can get on a personal level and they believe you truly care about their situation. So we find, I believe, in this moment, Paul wanting to really give some deep, helpful, sometimes hard to swallow truths to combat what's happening in the church at Colossae. Paul knows I'm gonna have to connect personally. They're gonna have to know I care. I'm not just preaching at them. I truly wanna help them. And so Paul starts here and he presents, as we see this beginning of chapter two, in this point of the letter he presents here a genuine concern. So his personal connection is presented in verse number one with a genuine concern. And through this genuine concern we see the struggle within that he has personally and the extent of his focus concerning those he is genuinely worried about. And so Verse number one we see here, for I would, my desire is, I hope that ye knew what great conflict I have for you. He's not saying, I'm fighting for you. No, no, what he's saying is, there is a constant battle in my mind, a constant concern that that which has begun in you be challenged and scarred and messed up and polluted by individuals, by errant teachings. It's always a concern that somebody would come in and spoil the good work that the Lord has done in your hearts. What he's saying is, I wish I could accurately portray to you and help you understand the conflict that goes on within me, the concern, and I know we're not supposed to worry, okay, but we use the word worry. Y'all ever had someone that, You're watching, you can't really be there. Maybe it's somebody in the family, or it's a friend, or it's an acquaintance, but yet you know them well enough, and you're seeing some things happen, and you're seeing some influences coming in. You can't be there to help God. You can't be there to help, and it's constantly on your mind, constantly on your mind, and you're praying about it, and you're, Lord, I wish I could do something to help. I wish I could do something to put up the warning sign and say, stop, I wish you could go and say, no, you don't need that friend, no, you don't need to go there, stop, I wish you could be there to help maybe disciple him, I wish you could be there, but I can't be there. That's what Paul's saying, I wish that I could portray to you, I wish you knew the genuine conflict that goes on within me. But he says it's not just a conflict, but it's a conflict I have for you. It's my desire, ever since Epiphras shared with me all that's going on, all the great things that have happened, and yet also the struggles and the problems that are starting to creep in. I'm burdened for you, and not just for you, he says. He says that also, and for them at Laodicea. Now we find out about Laodicea later on, especially in the book of Revelation. Church at Laodicea was warned. By the way, we're kind of in that scenario when you get the picture of churches that were warned. But there was an apathy setting in. And there was a concern in Paul's heart for Laodicea even at that point. And then he ties in here the extent of his focus, not just the struggle that he has within in praying for and being burdened for people, but the extent of his focus, he's focused here on the fact that Colossae, the church there at Colossae, I've never met you, you've never seen me, but I'm burdened for you. Those at Laodicea, I've never met them, I've never seen them, but I'm burdened for them and all that I hear about what's going on. And there are others, he says, as many have not seen my face in the flesh. He said, just because I have not met you face to face does not mean you're not a burden on my heart for the Lord to lead and guide and help. I'm as burdened for your growth and your protection in the church as I am for any place that I physically was at and helped to teach and train. So he's trying to connect very personally with this genuine concern. Then verse number two and verse number three, he gives the list of desires that he has for them. And this list of desires is really what it comes down to. It's again, he's already done it once in chapter one, now he's gonna do it in chapter two where there's going to be basically a prayer list that he has concerning these individuals. And he's letting them know, this is my heart's desire. This is my burden for you, though we've never met. And verse number two, that there are hearts. Now, who's the there? It's this church, Church of Laodicea, and anyone who has not seen his face, but he knows they're a child of God, it's a church established anywhere he's never physically been, but yet still feels as though he knows them personally because of the word that has come to him concerning the work of the brethren in multiple different places. And so, all of these individuals, he says, that burden, that desire, that prayer, that concern, It's all about that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If you're taking notes, I would just say you could write these five things down as the prayer list. Hearts comforted. Now he's not saying good health. He's not praying for health, wealth, and peace throughout their life. Hearts comforted is not even prayer that they be removed from the circumstances they're facing. Hearts comforted is that the Lord give them the ability to endure and give them joy through the midst of the storm. Hearts comforted. that no matter what you're facing, you find comfort. May I say, go back to our Sunday night focus. No matter what you're facing, let the Lord teach you and help you to find rest in him, no matter what you face. So my desire is that their hearts might be comforted in all that they're dealing with and all that they're facing and all the things that are being thrown at them that they would find rest and comfort in the Lord. But then also being knit together. Here's the key of finding some of that comfort of the heart is not in separating and just isolating at home. and I'm gonna try not to get stuck on this point, but it is the number one failure of those that call themselves Christians in the midst of hurting hard times. The number one failure of those that call themselves Christians in hurting and hard times is to remove themselves from the very place and the very people they need to be around because it's just too hard to be around them. and yet for some reason it just never seems to get better. I wonder why, because you remove yourself from the very place you need to be to find healing, to find love, to find comfort, to find people that will surround you, and we hide ourselves away thinking, I'll get better, then I'll come back, and we find out it never gets better and few come back, if that's the route they take. Whereas when people are hurting, they desire to be around, they prefer one another in love. I'm hurting. I really just want to be alone, but I know I can't be alone. I shouldn't be alone. I need to be around God's people. I need to be around my church family. I need to be around people that care about me. I don't need to complain about everything. I just need to be around people. I need to be a part of things. I need to be around preaching. I need to be around the timeframe of glorifying God and singing. And I need to be around everything that right now my flesh doesn't want. I need to surround myself with it. Why? Because if I isolate myself, I'm gonna wallow in my misery, and Satan's gonna play games in my mind. By the way, it's the number one failing aspect of those that call themselves Christians in the midst of hard times, when they don't go the path that God can help with, when they go the opposite direction, they remove themselves from everything that is needed. And so listen, he says, if you're gonna have hearts comforted, you're gonna have to do it through this process. Hearts comforted, being knit together in love. If you do not hang together, you'll most definitely hang separate. Or should I say, if we don't hang together, we're gonna hang alone. We either stick together, we encourage one another, or we get out there and we'll be on our own and it probably will not be going well very fast. God's people, by the way, we are told that we are to assemble together, we are to gather together, we are to do it, and even so much more as we see the day approaching, why? Because it's getting darker and darker and darker and darker and darker. Now, don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong, Every single person who has Christ in their heart and in their life and is a saved child of God has the light of truth within them, the light of Christ within them. And you are a light and you go out in darkness and the light will shine. But here's, as long as the lens is clean. But here's the thing. One light is okay. But have you ever been in really dark places and it felt like you were the only one that really knew Christ and you're the only one that cared and you're the only, again, not that you are the only one period, but in that moment, it felt like it was so dark, there was no other light there but yours. Now, some people will say this, let your light shine. Well, okay, yeah, that's great, that's really good. But may I tell you, The effectiveness that you can have when you just go out there and you're all by yourself in the darkness, you can be effective for Christ. But you will never be able to compare to where two or three or four or five, 10, 20 all gather together. The light that's produced in that moment is greater than what one person could ever hope to do. By the way, the encouragement, you can encourage yourself in the Lord in the midst of everything all by yourself when you're all alone and the darkness surrounds you. You can encourage yourself in the Lord. Has anybody ever tried that when it feels like it's overwhelming? It's not easy. However, get around a couple of God's people. Get around a couple of saved individuals that don't mind talk about being saved. Get around a couple of individuals that don't mind getting together and maybe singing some good old-fashioned hymn songs when the days seem dark and everything seems so long, it's never gonna end, it's just too hard, and it looks like, honestly, it's all caving in. Get around some folks that wanna sing some songs with you about the Lord. Get around some folks that maybe wanna read the scripture together or maybe have a small Bible study together. What you find out is when you surround yourself as a child of God, when you surround yourself with other walking evidences of the light of the gospel of Christ, when you surround yourself with other light, it's refreshing to not be alone in the darkness. So what he's saying here, I love to see your hearts comforted. I pray for the being knit together, that's the way you're gonna find it, knit together in love, caring for one another. We could go over into 1 John, we could go into lots of places dealing with the love that we should have for the brethren, the love for each other, not gonna do all that tonight, but he's saying if you're gonna be hearts comforted, it's gonna be through being knit together in love. But then he also presents and says, my desire also is full assurance. Here he goes back to stop questioning what you've received. Full assurance, knowing full well. What is the full assurance of? Of understanding. Knowing that what you've been taught, what you've learned, what you've been directed in is good understanding. You're not lacking anything in Christ. And by the way, in that full understanding and that assurance that comes from that understanding, it leads to and requires also the acknowledgement of the mystery of God. and of the Father and of Christ. Again, he's doubling down on what we saw in chapter one, where they're being led to believe that what they've received is not enough, that that of Christ that they've received is not enough, that what they've been taught in following Christ is not enough. You're going to need to add this, and add this, and add this, and do this, and take away from that, and take on this, and all these things that are being brought in by silver-tongued deceivers. Paul's saying, my desire is that your hearts be comforted in the midst of the struggle, you're knit together personally in love, which is gonna produce the comfort, You come to that full assurance of the understanding, what you've received thus far. You understand the gospel, you understand Christ, you understand who you are in Christ. And through that, you come to the acknowledgement of what you have received. The acknowledgement of the mystery. What did we say before was the mystery? It was the mystery of the gospel, but not just the gospel. The mystery of God was not just the gospel. It was a mystery that the gospel would not be just for the Jews, but would be for the Gentiles only, also. the Jew first, but also the Greek, the Gentiles. These Gentile believers would have a chance all because God in Old Testament had a plan that was a mystery to the Jew, but yet revealed in this time through the Gentiles. And so he said, hey, it's the acknowledgement. It's the recognizing, accepting, and acknowledging what has happened in your life. The mystery of God, the gospel unto you, Gentiles. And through that mystery of the gospel, you also, in the mystery of God, you also accept who the Father is, and you accept the acknowledgement of who Christ is. And then he says, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. By the way, what are the two things, the two things that are evident already through verse number one, chapter one, and now in the first beginning of chapter two, the two things evident that Paul is writing and challenging in this is the encouragement that they have new knowledge they need to learn. There's new doctrines that no one has taught you yet that you have to have. They're trying to teach new doctrinal, which is error, but doctrinal things. And by the way, the encouragement is how can you be truly wise without having the new truths that Epiphras has not taught you? The things that you need to add because Christ is not enough. There's Jewish requirements you need to follow. There's Gentile worship styles you need to follow. All these different things, why? Because the whole idea is you're not quite educated enough. You need to be learned in the Bible. That's the whole idea. Let us teach you what your preacher is keeping from you. That's exactly the way it's being presented according to what we're seeing here from Paul. And so he's telling them to acknowledge the mystery of God, the gospel, even to the Gentile, to acknowledge the Father and Christ, the Son of God, and who he is and what he has brought, who they have received and who is in them and who they are in. all of it together, and he says, by the way, and don't forget, it's in Christ that we find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Be careful of those individuals saying, we need to teach you something new. You need to learn something that you're being not taught. So, he says, my prayer list, your hearts be comforted, you be knit together in love, have full assurance of the understanding of things you've already received, acknowledging the mystery, the father, the son, the gospel, your salvation that you've received, and ultimately the growth in Christ, all those treasures, and of the wisdom and the knowledge. It's all found in Christ. And then, very quickly, he gives his, in verse number four, he gives his valid caution. The valid caution. Why all this? Why does he keep focusing? Why has he even written this letter? Verse number three. In who, I'm sorry, in verse number four. And this I say. Whole reason I do this. Whole reason I'm writing it. This I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. I can somewhat see it now. Somebody in the crowd, how did he know? I bet the preacher told him. But he's hitting exactly what's happening. and he's not shying away from it. But he's being kind in how he presents it. I say all of this lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. His valid caution is all because he knows that there's beguiling men and he knows that they use enticing words. There are slick workers coming into the church. They are educated. They know how to spread their education, but it's all mixed with man's ideas. It is not of God, and they have no purpose to edify the church. Their purpose is to hijack the church. And Paul, by the way, Paul's not guessing at it. If you read or look at anything in Paul's ministry, you find that Paul actually deals with it over and over and over again. It happens in almost every work that Paul has been a part of. Someone has tried to slip in and someone has tried to spoil the work. Let somebody else do the hard work of the gospel, getting it out, reaching people and seeing the body come together. And then once you've got something put together, I'm gonna step in now and take it over. By the way, that has not actually stopped just because we got out of the beginning of the New Testament church age. It still goes on today. Slick-talking, silver-tongued orators with theological backgrounds. They're highly studied and completely ignorant. because they're not about the gospel, they're about building unto themselves. It happens over and over and over again, and they pretty much destroy everything they touch in time. So Paul is warning, my valet, here's the whole reason, because I know there are beguiling men, and I know they're gonna have enticing words, and it's gonna be so hard to believe that there's something wrong with these guys, but my goodness, they're a better preacher than our pastor is. Well, they quote more of the Old Testament than our pastor can quote. Man, they know more history, more this, more that, they're more, but gracious, how could somebody that good and can speak that well and can draw and keep people's attention so well, how could anyone like that be a bad person for the church? Very enticing, but they're not there for the benefit of God's people. And the last thing he does do in verse number five is he basically promises to be mindful. He promises them that he will not forget and lays out to them, I may not be present in body but I'm always present in spirit with you and I'm attentive to your faithfulness. It has not been overlooked, the faithfulness and the consistency and the desire for the Lord that you have. It has been shared, it has been appreciated. And I keep a close eye to watch because I can't wait to see what God will do with you as long as you keep your eyes on Christ. So he's in verse number five, he says, for though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit. joying and beholding your order. and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Not only does Paul constantly warn them and admonish them and encourage them, hey, you know, you receive Christ, stick with Christ. Don't let somebody pull you away from Christ. He does all this, but then almost all the time, you'll see constantly throughout this, over and over and over again, he'll couple all of his warnings and his encouragement, he'll encouple those things with Boy, I just tell you, watching your steadfastness in Christ is such an encouragement. What he's doing, he's reaffirming the fact that you have been doing good. By the way, the whole thing of you did run well, who did hinder you, Paul is trying to, instead of being on the negative side, in the midst of all the warnings, in the midst of all the encouragement, in the midst of all the edification of what to do, he flips every now and then, and constantly throughout all the letter, He says, and boy, I can't tell you what an encouragement is about the steadfastness you've had in Christ. What is that? It lets them know I'm not just beating you down with this. I know you've already done well. I know you're doing good. I know you have a desire to keep doing well. Keep going. Don't quit. By the way, watch out for this guy and this guy and this guy. Oh, by the way, don't forget, it's Christ only and you don't need anything else. You've been doing great, though. I tell you what, you have stuck with it. And boy, it's an encouragement to watch a church like you who just puts their focus on Christ. He's reaffirming with positive action, telling them, you've already been doing it, keep going. And so through this process, by the way, anybody who's wanting to be an encouragement to people, if you'll just study, if you'll study the way Paul instructs, even sometimes rebukes, these letters he writes, if you study out his process that God allows us to see through the leading of the Holy Spirit to write these letters the way they're written, you see the process of how someone truly ministers to other people. from the instruction to the, you know, correction, edifying, propping up, you name it. There is a process that happens over and over and over again, and that's why, by the way, that's why Paul, through the leading and directing of the Holy Spirit, was able to be effective whether or not he saw the people or just wrote a letter to them. God gave Paul the direction and the ability to have an influence. We can learn so much as we head off, and I'm gonna stop right here, but as we head off into 2026, church, can I encourage you, if we're gonna be effective, now don't get me wrong, I ain't got it all figured out and I mess it up on a regular basis. But if we're gonna be effective in the lives of other people, we're gonna have to take some notes on what we are given in the word of God as to how to do it in a way that's not gonna get doors slammed in our face. And I'm not talking about actual literal doors. You can try to reach out to somebody and they will completely ignore you. You try to help somebody and it's like they just completely shut you off. How in the world am I gonna get through? Well, sometimes maybe we just need to step back and say, Lord, what am I doing wrong? How can I adjust my approach? And by the way, Lord, is right now just a time for me to pray about it and leave them alone, because I can't fix it. I just need to pray and ask you to help, as only you can. But regardless, the goal of the church is to be effective in the lives of others, especially in the area of getting the gospel to those in need. But if we're gonna be effective, we're gonna have to use wisdom. And if we're gonna be able to use wisdom, by the way, the wisdom that is from above far outweighs the wisdom from below. We can do it our way and make a little bit of an effect, or we can do it God's way and we can blow the doors off. It all depends on how we wanna focus. Let's take a little cue from Paul's directive here and see that there is a way in which, even if you never see someone face-to-face, there is a way in which you can open doors of opportunity by allowing the Spirit of God to direct in how we operate, trying to reach, help, and affect others, and also how we can help one another even right here. As we head off into a new year, let's head that direction saying, Lord, would you help us be effective for the cause of Christ, but be effective even one for another in helping each other through 2026. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this evening.