the next couple of verses in Colossians chapter two. Let us stand as we read this passage. So we have dealt with the first four verses, so I'm just gonna read over those and add to these verse number five and six, which is what we will look at this afternoon. Galatians chapter two, verse one. For I would that he 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, be knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding is 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. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in spirit joined. beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As he have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so was he in him. Father, we just thank you again for this opportunity to come in your presence, this opportunity to hear from you, I pray, O God, that nothing will be centered in me, but that you'll be pleased to extract that which will glorify your name, your name alone. I pray that, O God, you will let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. By extension, all of us Lord, We pray that you will magnify yourself in us and through us, even as we worship you. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Continuing the same trend of thought, the Apostle Paul is encouraging brethren at this church So this evening I just entitled the message encouraging faith encouraging Now the apostle Paul is doing it is utmost in this letter to ensure that these collusions do not become victims of of false teachers and wicked men. He told them plainly that he is saying these things to them that no man should beguile you or should deceive you with enticing words. He repeated himself, verse number eight, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. But before he repeated this caution, the Apostle Paul turns his spotlight on the believers' faith there in that church. And of course, he turns his spotlight on their faith because faith is the agent by which the believers must persevere because the very same faith is the instrument of their salvation and is by this saving faith from the Lord Jesus Christ that they are going to persevere and stand against the vicious onslaughts of their enemies. The Apostle Paul is continuing to encourage and strengthen the Colossians in their faith. And what a wonderful thing it is when you are given encouragement in your faith. And especially, again, from whom the encouragement is coming. It's highly valued. And so as we look in verse number five, we want to see, first of all, here, the connection and the comfort by faith. The connection and the comfort by faith, for though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in spirit." How greatly encouraging it is to know that one such as the Apostle Paul has such spiritual care and gave such strong moral support to believers he did not even meet. As we have mentioned this morning, the Colossians greatly valued this relationship with the Apostle. The pastor has made this physical connection with the Apostle Paul, and no doubt they would have heard of all the work that the Apostle Paul had been doing, championing the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, this Pastor Epaphras of this church in Colossae was under the spiritual guide of the Apostle Paul, and he was now placed at that church. So this relationship was still vibrant between Paul and Epaphras, and by extension, now the church, even though he did not meet them face to face. The idea of his spiritual presence is the same as he had expressed with the Corinthians. He said the same thing to the Corinthians in verse number three, 1 Corinthians chapter five. However, there is a little difference, two differences with the Corinthians in terms of what the Apostle Paul said. The Apostle Paul was physically with the Corinthians. They had seen him face to face. They interacted with him, not so with the Colossians. And when the Apostle Paul said that he was with the Corinthians in spirit, that was observing their disorder. That was observing the incestuous person and determining concern in his case and delivering him over to Satan. That was the case in 1 Corinthians 5, verse three. Here, here in Colossians, the presence of the apostle is to be understood that being members in the same body of Christ with them, he was activated by the same spirit, so we can understand that. Now by virtue of their union to each other in their common head, His spirit went out toward them, his heart was knit with them. He had the same affection and care for them, though he had never physically seen them. Moreover, being with the Colossians in spirit may be regarded as that extraordinary discerning and presence of his spirit, which he, as an apostle, had in connection with the people of God, and of course, the inspiration under which he, the Apostle Paul, was writing, and that blessed revelation that God would have given him through the spirit of what was taking place in the Colossian church. And we are gonna see a few details where that is in regard. Now, the same kind of spiritual presence we saw with Elisha, when his servant Gehazi went after Naaman the Syrian and took a present or goods from him. When he lied about where he was, Elisha said in 2 Kings 5 verse 23, went not my heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee. Now this could only be speaking of the spiritual connection that the prophet has with God and God give him that revelation about his own servant because he was not there physically and he saw exactly what had taken place. Hence, similar with the Apostle Paul, Elijah's spirit went and was present with his servant Gehazi, and saw and knew all that took place, being under the impulse and the inspiration of this Word of God. And it is the Spirit who made all things known unto him. And likewise, the Apostle Paul is given this knowledge, given this revelation about what's happening in the church at Colossae, so he could speak to them like this. Though I'm not here in person yet, I am there. That's kind of scary if you think about it. At least I believe the Corinthians were scared when the Apostle Paul actually revealed that, listen, I'm there in spirit and I saw what's going on and this man is not repenting, deliver him over to Satan. That should have been scary. Now, how important it is for us ministers, ministers of the gospel, to have a strong spiritual discernment that we may know, on the one hand, how to rebuke the sin of our members and to straightly tell them their faults and to condemn their ungodly actions, like Paul and the Corinthians. On the other hand, We ministers may know how to bear the infirmities and strengthen the weaknesses and comfort the troubles of those under our spiritual care. May God grant us this discernment of spirit that we may represent him aright in the church of God. this connection to them was one forged in the Holy Spirit himself. And it was a delight for the Apostle Paul to behold the faith of this church. And so we continue in verse number five and see secondly, the commendation and constancy of their faith. The Apostle Paul says, Join and behold in your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. That's good. Join and behold in your order. How is it that, you know, you may get this wonderful theme if, you know, a reputable man of God or very, No man of God should come to Memorial Heights and says, I've been hearing some great things of this church, and how wonderful the preaching is, and how wonderful the brethren are behaving, and the impact that you're having on one another, and I commend you, and I've been praying for you, and keep up the good work. That would be wonderful and encouraging. And I trust you have had that. Sometimes, that's what was happening here with the Apostle Paul, encouraging their faith. He said, while he was not present and being present in spirit, while I was being present in spirit, I was beholding what was happening and drawing about it, beholding your order and beholding your steadfastness, your firmness, your stance, your unshakable stance, of the faith, or your faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we have a contrast of the behavior of the Colossians with that of the Corinthians, as we mentioned earlier before. Paul had never seen the Colossians face to face, but he spent a year and a half with the Corinthians, according to Acts chapter 18, verse one and 11. Paul commended the Colossians about their order, but he had straight rebuke for the Corinthians about their disorder. 1 Corinthians 14, 26 to 40. Paul and the Colossians know that he knows what is going on with them, not only by the report of their pastor, Pastor Epaphos, but by his spiritual presence through divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now being a witness, he therefore expressed a delight in their order and satisfaction with the constancy and the steadfastness of their faith. These two things, order and steadfastness in faith, are the conditions necessary for the perfecting of the church. Order among themselves, and of course, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely essential. Joy in unbeholding your order is rendered in this version of the Bible as I rejoice that I can see your order. That's nice. That's encouraging. That's good. That is with pleasure I observe it. With pleasure, I consider it. With pleasure, I contemplate on it. It is sad to say that this matter of order is very missing in many churches today. Both officers and members don't know their place and how to function. Many officers leave their roles to be filled by another. and the conduct of some members are out of step with the word of God, this is chaos. And there is only grief beholding chaos. But this was not the case with the Colossians. It was orderly. And so by the term order, the apostle means agreement. duly regulated morals and entire discipline. Order here refers to their orderly lifestyle and conduct, which being as becomes the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it was very pleasing and delightful for the apostle to witness this about the Colossians Church. It also means the order of their church discipline, they having Regular officers, pastors, deacons ordained among them who rightly performed their offices and had respect being given to them by the brethren, the ordinances of the gospel were duly administered and constantly attended on. The members of the church were watched over, given admonitions, given corrections where necessary, and everything was done decently and in order. What a commendation that the Apostle Paul was giving this church. As the apostle who labored more than all the apostles, that was a delight. This was a beautiful sight and gave the apostle what can be considered an uncommon pleasure, as this is not always the case with a lot of churches. The word used here signifies a military order, such as observed in armies and in battle array. It therefore suggested that these Christians at Colossae were good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were enlisted under his banner and kept in due order. They stood fast in one spirit, contending and strove together for the faith of the gospel, and they were fighting a good fight, the good fight of faith. This was not to say, remember they have their troubles, you know. Remember, there's great opposition against them. Remember, there is much false teachers that were coming against them constantly every day. And so much so that Epaphras wanted to get strengthened and traveled so far to have time with the Apostle Paul to be strengthened and be encouraged. And here it is in this little letter that this part of the Apostle Paul is saying, Continue what you're doing. I see your order. I see your stance. I see your perseverance. Keep on keeping on in spite of the great conflicts and opposition that is coming against you. Keep the banner of the gospel of the Lord Jesus high, despite what you're going through. And I commend you that you're taking this great stance. That was wonderful for the church to hear. Can this be said of our church? If the Apostle Paul were to visit physically, would he be saying something like that to Memorial Heights? I can tell you now, he would not be saying anything like that to us there at Calvary Baptist Church in the Virgin Island. He commended their faith in respect of its constancy and steadfastness. And this could be understood as addressing two aspects of faith. One, he commended their faith as it pertains to the grace of faith and the exercise of that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a faith that opposes doubts and dispels unbelief by which God is honored and is well pleased. It is the exercise of faith whereby Satan is resisted and is overcome. It is that exercise of faith by which the hearts of others particularly ministers of the gospel, are comforted to see spiritual strength and stability in members. And the second aspect of this faith is that he commended them in the doctrine of faith, respecting Christ in which they stood fast. It is the body of doctrine which they had heard and believed concerning Christ and his crucifixion Even though there was a majority against it, the wise and intelligent, the rich and mighty did not receive this faith. And though it was opposed by false teachers and persecuted by wicked men, and though loaded with reproach and criticism, they held firmly the profession of their faith without wavering, and the Apostle Paul commended them. for their conscience. Now to see a set of Christians, Church of Christ, walking together in gospel order, steady in faith, the faith of the Lord Jesus, abiding by the doctrines of faith and maintaining an honorable profession, how beautiful and delightful that is. How beautiful and delightful that is. Therefore, in light of this commendation and recognition of constancy of faith, the Apostle Paul is now desperately imploring the Colossians, maintain this position in Christ and not allow false teachers or anyone to cause you to be moved in the slightest degree. from this position of faith. He says there in verse number eight, beware lest any man spoil you. So the third thing we will look at this evening. So we looked at the connection and comfort of faith. The commendation and constancy of faith. We move on now to verse number six, where we'll see the confirmation and challenge of faith. And we read, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. The confirmation of faith. Receiving and professing Christ. Receiving and professing Christ. The relationship with Christ begin with receiving him. It's where it all begins. There is much misunderstanding in Christian circles about this matter, this idea, this concept of receiving Christ. Do we know what it means? What it means at least here in this text? I'll tell you what it is. but it does not mean. One, the number one thing to note about this matter is that the opposite of receiving Christ is not rejecting Christ. I'll repeat that. The number one thing to note about this matter, this matter of receiving Christ, is that the opposite of receiving Christ is not rejecting Christ. For the word receive here has no relation to, no correlation to, nor any association with the word reject, which means to cast off, to discard, to refuse. Again, receiving Christ is not walking the aisle of the church to the altar and making a tearful confession of sins. That's not receiving Christ. Receiving Christ is not repeating a so-called sinner's prayer and then being declared by the preacher that you are now saved and welcome to the family of God. Receiving Christ is not the experience of a preacher touching or laying hands on you so that you fall backward to the ground and you get up declaring you are full of crap. Some promote that. One of these, a combination of these, or all of these, is receiving Christ. No such thing. So what is it? So that's not what it is. What is it? And again, at least in the context here that we have. Now, Paul was confirming that the brethren at the Colossian church did in fact receive Christ. We know it is a confirmation by virtue of the words he used. He says, as he have therefore. So this is speaking of something that would have already taken place, something that has happened before for it to be considered in the context of therefore. It is definitely addressing an event or an experience that has already taken place. What is it that the Apostle Paul was confirming about the brethren here in the church at Colossae? Now the word for received from the Greek as used in this verse is paralambano. I hope I pronounced that right, but you can check it. Which means to receive near. That is, associate with. oneself in any familiar or intimate act of relation. It also means to learn or to take unto oneself. These two last meanings, to learn and to take unto, are essentially what is considered here by the Apostle Paul. So this is the same root. Same root word used in John 1 12 which reads, but as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. So let's look at these two ideas. First, to receive Christ is to learn Christ. This is the same idea expressed in Ephesians 4, 20 and 21. But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Christ. To learn Christ means that you have to be taught. Christ is. an inexhaustible subject, as we said today, who must be taught in order to learn Him. This assumes that one, that you are ignorant of the subject, who Jesus is. It also assumes that you cannot learn Christ on your own, you cannot discover who He is, you cannot discover Him of your own and by yourself. To learn Christ means that you must have a teacher who knows who Jesus is. Because he himself, or rather, by ourself, we know nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ says in John 6, 45, it is written in the prophets, and they shall be all of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. So you can only learn Christ, you can only learn who Jesus is if you are taught of God. We have a very vivid declaration of this in Matthew 16 verses 13 to 17 and it reads, When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say that the Lord John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, are one of the prophets. He said unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now here's the response of Jesus to Peter's answer. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. To receive Christ is to learn of Christ, and to learn of Christ, the Father must reveal Christ. Otherwise, we remain ignorant of who Jesus is. All who learn from the Father who Jesus is come to Christ. They come to Him. because they are made willing after they learn. You just can't learn who Jesus is and remain the same. It's an impossibility. If you have been to a church or been to an event that the gospel is preached and you know, whatever claim you want to make, the preacher preached the gospel or preached the word and he said, man, I learned so much about Christ. And tomorrow your lifestyle changed no way whatsoever. You didn't learn a thing. The moment you learn, you are changed. It's an automatic result. So this is evidence that you have learned Christ. Those who have not come to Christ have not yet learned Christ. Because every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. If that were not the case, then Jesus was lying. And what an absurdity that is to say the Son of God lies. It is important to note that Paul did not say, learn about Christ, because this is vastly different. I make a quick illustration here. In the year 2000, I visited Brother Harold Becknell, pastor, of Island City Baptist Church, Island City, Kentucky. And he was sharing with me about his trip to the Holy Land, and particularly how the tour guide was, man, he was just so knowledgeable about the life of Christ, the events that are recorded in scripture some of the main personalities that Jesus actually interacted with, and this tour guide, I mean, hoo-wee, he was pardon! It was as if he was making the very Bible come alive in educating the group that Pastor Beckman was a part of. So at the end of the tour, Pastor Becknell asked him, do you believe this Jesus is the Messiah of God? To which the Jewish tour guide responded, no, I am still looking for the Messiah to come. How tragic. You see, this tour guide knew so much about Christ, but he did not learn Christ. Because to learn Christ, you have to be taught of the Father. And everyone that learns Christ comes to Christ. It is a beautiful, inescapable trap in which the apostle is holding us, that the essence of all things that the answer or solution to any church problem, and that the strongest defense against false teachers and false teaching is that we must know who Jesus is. The apostle is comforting and motivating the believers at Colossae by confirming their faith they have received Christ, they have learned Christ, They have been taught of God through their faithful pastor, as he also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ. That's what Paul said in the previous chapter, verse number four. They need not only receive or learn Christ to be saved from their sins, but the apostle is now referring to an extension or a further development of their faith. He is confirming a certain level of maturity in their faith, and he does not want them to be deceived and spoiled by the enemies of their soul. The other idea of the word receive is to take on to. To take on to. That is, taking on to oneself like in marriage. The man takes on to himself, the woman, to associate with her in a familiar, intimate act and relationship. for life. This is the next idea that comes with the word receive and the phrase receive Christ. And as like a man takes on a woman to be lawful wedded wife, he does so because he has learned or He has gotten to know her. Therefore, to take unto yourself Christ is a result of learning him. The marriage officer would ask, do you take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife? No, it is not a question for him to start figuring out the answer. You know, do I, could you repeat the question? No, no, no, no, no, no. It's not a question for him to try and figure out the answer. That was already settled. It's not a question for him to figure out. It is simply to confirm and confess in the front of all the witnesses what he has already decided days, weeks, months, or probably years ago because he would have already learned enough who this woman is. And so he had already decided, oh boy, because I learned so much about you, I want you for the rest of my life. Right, Sister Stephen? I don't hear any amen, but I'll say amen. So have you truly received Christ? Have you learned him and have you taken him to be, as it were, your spiritual marriage partner for life? Apostle wraps up this verse by challenging believers' faith, that is, reflecting or proving Christ. As ye have therefore learned Christ, or received Christ, so walk ye. If you have truly received Christ, if you have truly learned Christ, and have taken Him to be your spiritual marriage partner, so to speak, the Apostle Paul is saying, walk in Him. Now when we learn something, anything, the only way to let others know that we truly learn it is to tell it and live it. Declare it, share it. This is professing or confessing or acknowledging that which is learned. And in this case, this relationship that is forged in the Lord Jesus Christ. Like a wedding ceremony is designed to confirm and legitimize the decision of the man taking on this woman, so the ordinances of the Church of Christ are to confirm the acknowledgement of the relationship with Christ as Lord and Savior of your life. Your action now prove what you have learned, or more so, who you have learned. Walk in him. Imitate him. Him, walk in Christ. And this is saying that to walk in Christ is to walk in and after the Spirit of Christ under the influence or under His influence in His Word, His deed, and attitudes. It is to pursue the holiness of God, cutting off on all kinds of ungodliness, and moving along with a passion for the things of God and standing firm and secure and steadfast in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. To walk in Christ is to walk worthy of the name, to live worthy, to live appropriately in him. And we close with the reading of these verses that speak to the matter of walking worthy of Christ. Colossians 1 verse 10, that he might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Ephesians 1, Ephesians 4, verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation or the calling wherewith ye are called. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 12, that ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. Because you are not and cannot be the same having learned who Jesus is. And it is the frustration of the man of God, the ministers of Christ, to look into the congregation and hear this sister or that brother professing Christ and can't see any disparity between who they once were and who they say they are now. The earlier questions were, have you truly received Christ? Have you learned Christ? Have you taken him to be your spiritual guide? marriage partner as it were. This last question is, are you walking in Christ? Are you walking worthy of Christ? It is not unfair for Papa Lion and Mommy Lion to expect Baby Lion to become like them. Because the child of God resembles is fear. When we are born again, we are made new. And we become the child of God. So it's not on fear. It is not unusual. It is not pressure. to ask the child to behave like the parent. It's natural. How we walk worthy of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.