Going Against the Tide - Studies in Colossians
Study no. 1: How to Please God Chapter 1:1-14
The Book of Colossians was written by Paul in about the year 62 while he was in prison at Rome. But the church in the city of Colosse was not planted by him nor had he ever been there. The church was actually planted by an Evangelist that Paul knew very well. His name was Epaphras (for short) or Epaphroditus.
Here is what Paul said about him.
Philippians 2:25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
Philippians 4:18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
Philemon 1:23 Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings.
Colossians 1:7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.
Why do I point out that Epaphras was the actual church 'planter' and that Paul, to our knowledge, never visited them? I will ask this question, in reading the book of Colossians do you see any difference at all in how Paul addresses them compared to how he addresses some of the other churches ... the ones he actually did 'plant'? There is no difference at all. Paul loves them and speaks to them in exactly the same manner he would speak to 'one of his own'.
The Colossian church appears to be a flourishing church. And yet we never see a note of jealousy from Paul. Do we sometimes think that no one can do a job as good as we can? God used Epaphras to build a church every bit as successful as any of those Paul planted. God can use us in His work ... but He can use someone else and get the job done equally well. And we need to learn to rejoice with those who rejoice.
So Paul is writing ... and states that he is an apostle ... by the will of God. How many hundred or thousand of times did Paul have to remind people of that fact? There was a certain group of 'Christians' who argued that Paul was not an apostle. They said there were only twelve ... and Paul was not one of them. They said that an Apostle had to have been chosen by Jesus, Himself ... and that he was not one of the original ones. However, using that argument ... then Matthias, the one that was chosen just before the day of Pentecost, should not have been voted in. He too, was not chosen by Jesus. In his own defence Paul says that he actually WAS chosen by Jesus. But that is another story all its own.
And Timothy is with him and is included in the greeting. Timothy may have been imprisoned with Paul at this time.
Paul was referring to Timothy's imprisonment when he wrote to the Hebrews.
I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. Heb 13:23
He calls Timothy a brother. In another place he calls Timothy his son (in the Lord). To include someone as brother is to bring them up to the same level as oneself, or to recognize that they are at your level. Paul did not consider Timothy as an inferior person. In the body of Christ we do not have inferiors. Every member has a crucial role and function.
From verses 3 to 8 Paul describes what he has heard about these Colossian Christians.
OK, did you just read the verses? ... what do you think ... what calibre of believers are these?
Don't they seem just about perfect?
They have faith in Jesus and love for other believers. (4)
They love to talk about their heavenly hope (5)
They joyfully received the gospel ... then spread it all around ... and watched it bear fruit. (6)
Epaphras tells Paul that these people are literally filled with love. (7,8)
So ... they are just about perfect, right? If you were Paul ... what else would you have to say to them? What could you teach them to be a little better at?
One thing we learn about what Paul does next ... we discover that there is ALWAYS room for improvement and growth in the life of a Christian. We NEVER are finished growing. So Paul prays for them ... his prayer is that they may please God ... FULLY
How to Please God?
9 ¶ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 ¶ giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul says to the Colossians – I am praying that you will live a God pleasing life. He, without a doubt, prayed that same prayer for every church that he had anything to do with. But the way that he puts it here in his letter to the Colossians is orderly and to the point. So let's look at what all he is really saying.
Simply put, we need to know God's will for our lives … and, in order to please Him, do it. That is so easy to say. But to be honest, the experience of many of us is that there have been times when we have been confused about His will, or we have been worn out and weary and wonder if it is really worth keeping on, or we have submitted to doing what we believe is His will for us, only to have disaster after disaster occur all around us.
According to what we read here Paul would have us to realize that receiving the full knowledge of the will of God for our lives … seems to be based on two gifts from God.
The first gift is wisdom. James tells us to ask for wisdom and God will give it. If asking for wisdom suddenly makes you a super wise financial planner or business consultant … those would have to be 'spin off' benefits. That is not at all what asking for wisdom is about. James says that some people are asking for wisdom … and not getting it … because all along they wanted it for their own ends1. The wisdom that God wants you to ask for and that He wants to give you … is wisdom regarding His will. This is coming from the heart that says, God I want to live a pleasing life before you today. No doubt there will be choices to make. There always are. But Lord, I don't want to make wrong choices. So Lord, throughout this day, would you be my guide? Would you please put your thoughts in my mind? Would you make my choices obvious?
But this is not a good example of how to pray unless we include the second part of Paul's advice. He adds this, '… with all spiritual understanding'. We understand that the first word refers to the Holy Spirit giving us some kind of help. The second word, “understanding”, implies something that went before. Most likely it refers to understanding God's word.
Jesus said that the gift of the Holy Spirit would provide us with 'spiritual recall'. He also said that the Holy Spirit 'teaches' us2. So let's put it all together.
We spend time getting to know God's word. It goes deep into our heart somewhere. We live our daily lives and we experience tough situations, but above all we want to please God … our prayer for God's wisdom results in the Holy Spirit causing us to recall the right scripture for the present situation and the ability to apply it correctly. Paul said something to Timothy that really fits for all of us in our commitment to please God. He said, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15
What do you think it means by 'divide' the Word of Truth?
Later Paul wrote this to Timothy: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for (1)doctrine, for (2)reproof, for (3)correction, for (4)instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2Timothy 3:16,17
Those are four obvious divisions of scripture … there are many more. I want to make it clear that a little song you may have learned in Sunday School was not correct: The song goes like this,
Every promise in the Book is mine
Every chapter every verse every line
All are blessings of His love divine
Every promise in the book is mine
This is a very poor understanding regarding the Word of God. There were promises made to the Patriarchs that were for them alone. For example God said things to Abraham … that are not for us. He made promises to Jacob and Esau …. that were just for them. God made promises to the nation of Israel, some of which remain to be completed … but they are not promises for us. Is it important to rightly divide scripture? Of course. God would not have mentioned it if it were not important. I have heard some very confused believers who have taken some Old Testament promise … that really was not for them, and, not understanding that fact, have taken it for their own promise … and then wonder why they never receive the 'promise'.
It takes the gift of the Holy Spirit to give us an understanding of scripture and it takes the Holy Spirit to bring it to mind when we need it, but it remains our responsibility to study and rightly divide.
So that is the beginning of living lives 'pleasing to Him'. Paul also calls it 'walking worthy of the Lord'.
being fruitful in every good work
If we stop short of 'being fruitful' in every good work … can we still say that our lives are pleasing to Him? Not really … so this comes next. At least it comes next in the sentence structure of the verse … but to say that there is some kind of a step by step process may not be accurate. As we openly commit to wanting to please Him in every thing … some of these things come together all at once. When we say 'Lord where and how can I be fruitful for you today?' the answer we expect should not be 'mystical'. That is, it should not be some un-explainable feeling leading us to something. Some people think that it is more spiritual to go on feelings and impulses rather than acting on clear biblical instruction. The next phrase in Paul's prayer bears this out …
increasing in the knowledge of God
The Bible is God's Word. We have not lived during the time that Jesus was on earth in the flesh. Have we really missed out? Can we still get to know him? The truth is, we have a tremendous advantage over many of the Old Testament saints who had almost no scripture to read. Or those in the early church who became believers after Jesus already ascended to heaven … they had not met him personally nor did they yet have the New Testament. Paul referred to their experience as 'partial'3 … Seeing in part and knowing in part. And then he referred to the time when 'that which is complete has come, that which is 'partial' shall be done away4. We have that which is complete. Do we appreciate it? God bless each of you are involved in 'increasing in the knowledge of God'. When we couple this increasing knowledge with 'being fruitful in every good work' we are well on our way to being 'fully pleasing to him'.
How is this going against the tide?
Well, certainly 'pleasing' God' is not the way of the world. They want nothing to do with God and Satan throws every conceivable thing in the path of a believer to stop him or her from pleasing God.
But the 'tide' of the world may not be the most difficult thing facing us today. Living a life pleasing to God as we will see described in the book of Colossians is very strange to many believers in Canada and in the 'religiously free' world as we know it today. This means that you and I will have friends in church who do not see this as necessary and, to some degree, discourage you from seeking this kind of relationship with God.
As we will see as we continue in this book … Paul has a lot to teach us about going against the tide. I pray we are ready to receive it.
1James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
2John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
31Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
41Corinthians 13:10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
Study no. 1: How to Please God Chapter 1:1-14
The Book of Colossians was written by Paul in about the year 62 while he was in prison at Rome. But the church in the city of Colosse was not planted by him nor had he ever been there. The church was actually planted by an Evangelist that Paul knew very well. His name was Epaphras (for short) or Epaphroditus.
Here is what Paul said about him.
Philippians 2:25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
Philippians 4:18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.
Philemon 1:23 Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings.
Colossians 1:7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.
Why do I point out that Epaphras was the actual church 'planter' and that Paul, to our knowledge, never visited them? I will ask this question, in reading the book of Colossians do you see any difference at all in how Paul addresses them compared to how he addresses some of the other churches ... the ones he actually did 'plant'? There is no difference at all. Paul loves them and speaks to them in exactly the same manner he would speak to 'one of his own'.
The Colossian church appears to be a flourishing church. And yet we never see a note of jealousy from Paul. Do we sometimes think that no one can do a job as good as we can? God used Epaphras to build a church every bit as successful as any of those Paul planted. God can use us in His work ... but He can use someone else and get the job done equally well. And we need to learn to rejoice with those who rejoice.
So Paul is writing ... and states that he is an apostle ... by the will of God. How many hundred or thousand of times did Paul have to remind people of that fact? There was a certain group of 'Christians' who argued that Paul was not an apostle. They said there were only twelve ... and Paul was not one of them. They said that an Apostle had to have been chosen by Jesus, Himself ... and that he was not one of the original ones. However, using that argument ... then Matthias, the one that was chosen just before the day of Pentecost, should not have been voted in. He too, was not chosen by Jesus. In his own defence Paul says that he actually WAS chosen by Jesus. But that is another story all its own.
And Timothy is with him and is included in the greeting. Timothy may have been imprisoned with Paul at this time.
Paul was referring to Timothy's imprisonment when he wrote to the Hebrews.
I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. Heb 13:23
He calls Timothy a brother. In another place he calls Timothy his son (in the Lord). To include someone as brother is to bring them up to the same level as oneself, or to recognize that they are at your level. Paul did not consider Timothy as an inferior person. In the body of Christ we do not have inferiors. Every member has a crucial role and function.
From verses 3 to 8 Paul describes what he has heard about these Colossian Christians.
OK, did you just read the verses? ... what do you think ... what calibre of believers are these?
Don't they seem just about perfect?
They have faith in Jesus and love for other believers. (4)
They love to talk about their heavenly hope (5)
They joyfully received the gospel ... then spread it all around ... and watched it bear fruit. (6)
Epaphras tells Paul that these people are literally filled with love. (7,8)
So ... they are just about perfect, right? If you were Paul ... what else would you have to say to them? What could you teach them to be a little better at?
One thing we learn about what Paul does next ... we discover that there is ALWAYS room for improvement and growth in the life of a Christian. We NEVER are finished growing. So Paul prays for them ... his prayer is that they may please God ... FULLY
How to Please God?
9 ¶ For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 ¶ giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul says to the Colossians – I am praying that you will live a God pleasing life. He, without a doubt, prayed that same prayer for every church that he had anything to do with. But the way that he puts it here in his letter to the Colossians is orderly and to the point. So let's look at what all he is really saying.
Simply put, we need to know God's will for our lives … and, in order to please Him, do it. That is so easy to say. But to be honest, the experience of many of us is that there have been times when we have been confused about His will, or we have been worn out and weary and wonder if it is really worth keeping on, or we have submitted to doing what we believe is His will for us, only to have disaster after disaster occur all around us.
According to what we read here Paul would have us to realize that receiving the full knowledge of the will of God for our lives … seems to be based on two gifts from God.
The first gift is wisdom. James tells us to ask for wisdom and God will give it. If asking for wisdom suddenly makes you a super wise financial planner or business consultant … those would have to be 'spin off' benefits. That is not at all what asking for wisdom is about. James says that some people are asking for wisdom … and not getting it … because all along they wanted it for their own ends1. The wisdom that God wants you to ask for and that He wants to give you … is wisdom regarding His will. This is coming from the heart that says, God I want to live a pleasing life before you today. No doubt there will be choices to make. There always are. But Lord, I don't want to make wrong choices. So Lord, throughout this day, would you be my guide? Would you please put your thoughts in my mind? Would you make my choices obvious?
But this is not a good example of how to pray unless we include the second part of Paul's advice. He adds this, '… with all spiritual understanding'. We understand that the first word refers to the Holy Spirit giving us some kind of help. The second word, “understanding”, implies something that went before. Most likely it refers to understanding God's word.
Jesus said that the gift of the Holy Spirit would provide us with 'spiritual recall'. He also said that the Holy Spirit 'teaches' us2. So let's put it all together.
We spend time getting to know God's word. It goes deep into our heart somewhere. We live our daily lives and we experience tough situations, but above all we want to please God … our prayer for God's wisdom results in the Holy Spirit causing us to recall the right scripture for the present situation and the ability to apply it correctly. Paul said something to Timothy that really fits for all of us in our commitment to please God. He said, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15
What do you think it means by 'divide' the Word of Truth?
Later Paul wrote this to Timothy: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for (1)doctrine, for (2)reproof, for (3)correction, for (4)instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2Timothy 3:16,17
Those are four obvious divisions of scripture … there are many more. I want to make it clear that a little song you may have learned in Sunday School was not correct: The song goes like this,
Every promise in the Book is mine
Every chapter every verse every line
All are blessings of His love divine
Every promise in the book is mine
This is a very poor understanding regarding the Word of God. There were promises made to the Patriarchs that were for them alone. For example God said things to Abraham … that are not for us. He made promises to Jacob and Esau …. that were just for them. God made promises to the nation of Israel, some of which remain to be completed … but they are not promises for us. Is it important to rightly divide scripture? Of course. God would not have mentioned it if it were not important. I have heard some very confused believers who have taken some Old Testament promise … that really was not for them, and, not understanding that fact, have taken it for their own promise … and then wonder why they never receive the 'promise'.
It takes the gift of the Holy Spirit to give us an understanding of scripture and it takes the Holy Spirit to bring it to mind when we need it, but it remains our responsibility to study and rightly divide.
So that is the beginning of living lives 'pleasing to Him'. Paul also calls it 'walking worthy of the Lord'.
being fruitful in every good work
If we stop short of 'being fruitful' in every good work … can we still say that our lives are pleasing to Him? Not really … so this comes next. At least it comes next in the sentence structure of the verse … but to say that there is some kind of a step by step process may not be accurate. As we openly commit to wanting to please Him in every thing … some of these things come together all at once. When we say 'Lord where and how can I be fruitful for you today?' the answer we expect should not be 'mystical'. That is, it should not be some un-explainable feeling leading us to something. Some people think that it is more spiritual to go on feelings and impulses rather than acting on clear biblical instruction. The next phrase in Paul's prayer bears this out …
increasing in the knowledge of God
The Bible is God's Word. We have not lived during the time that Jesus was on earth in the flesh. Have we really missed out? Can we still get to know him? The truth is, we have a tremendous advantage over many of the Old Testament saints who had almost no scripture to read. Or those in the early church who became believers after Jesus already ascended to heaven … they had not met him personally nor did they yet have the New Testament. Paul referred to their experience as 'partial'3 … Seeing in part and knowing in part. And then he referred to the time when 'that which is complete has come, that which is 'partial' shall be done away4. We have that which is complete. Do we appreciate it? God bless each of you are involved in 'increasing in the knowledge of God'. When we couple this increasing knowledge with 'being fruitful in every good work' we are well on our way to being 'fully pleasing to him'.
How is this going against the tide?
Well, certainly 'pleasing' God' is not the way of the world. They want nothing to do with God and Satan throws every conceivable thing in the path of a believer to stop him or her from pleasing God.
But the 'tide' of the world may not be the most difficult thing facing us today. Living a life pleasing to God as we will see described in the book of Colossians is very strange to many believers in Canada and in the 'religiously free' world as we know it today. This means that you and I will have friends in church who do not see this as necessary and, to some degree, discourage you from seeking this kind of relationship with God.
As we will see as we continue in this book … Paul has a lot to teach us about going against the tide. I pray we are ready to receive it.
1James 4:3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
2John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
31Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
41Corinthians 13:10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.