Introduction
Imagine that you are sitting in church on a regular Sunday and the pastor stands up and says, "This week we received a letter from the apostle Paul addressed to us. Let me read it to you." What a thrill! The apostle himself took time while in jail to write to you even though he never met you. Sure he knows your pastor, but he has never been in Colossae. You start listening to the letter and what a joy springs in your heart when you hear that life flows from whom Christ is and what he has done for you!
It might now feel the same to us, but that is exactly what is happening to us this morning as we read this letter. In writing to the Colossians, the apostle Paul wrote to the Church everywhere and in all times. It is true that we have to translate some things from first century, Lycus Valley, Roman dominated context to twenty-first century, Puget Sound, liberals dominated context, but this letter is as much written to us as it was to the Colossians.
I. Some Important Things to Know about the Context of This Letter.
A. Paul is in prison in Rome waiting trial – this period is referred to as his first Roman imprisonment.
B. It is the early 60's and Paul writes a flurry of letters during this period.
1. A relative flurry since the NT only contains 13 letters written by Paul and we know of one more and possibly two that are not in the NT.
2. During these two years in prison, Paul wrote four letters.
a. Ephesians – the longest of the four.
b. Colossians and Philemon – to the same audience.
c. Philippians – probably toward the end of his prison time.
3. Ephesians and Colossians have a lot in common; thus, scholars think they written at about the same time.
C. Paul had never been to the Colossian church, 2:1, 5.
1. The church was likely founded by a convert from Ephesus, just a little over 100 miles away in the Lycus Valley in what is modern-day Turkey.
2. Possibly founded by their current pastor, Epaphras, 1:7 (he is probably in prison with Paul).
Phile. 23 – Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you….
D. Having never met them, Paul loves them because of their common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – so he writes them.
1. Epaphras likely told Paul of the new challenges that the church was facing with false teachers infiltrating the ranks.
2. These false teachers were teaching that obedience to some extra-biblical list of do's and don't's determined your standing before God and that there was some special knowledge outside the biblical and apostolic tradition that one needed to know in order to please God, 2:4-10, 16-19.
II. An Unremarkable Start to a Remarkable Letter, 1-2.
A. Unlike the way we write letters and e-mails, ancient letters would start with the identification of the writer even before naming whom the letter was addressed to, which makes sense since there were no other clues as to whom had sent you that letter, 1.
1. Paul introduces himself as a duly called and ordained apostle.
a. He didn't decide he was going to be an apostle on his own.
b. The Lord Jesus Christ decided he was going to be an apostle and called him by pushing him off his feet and sticking his face in the dirt before his glory.
c. Perhaps this also offers a contrast between Paul and the false teachers – "I was appointed by Christ to teach the church. They just showed up."
2. Timothy is in Rome with Paul and may have helped Paul with the actual writing of the letter.
a. Paul makes a big deal of finishing the letter with his own hand, 4:18.
b. The literary style is slightly different than other letters written by Paul.
c. Likely Paul is the author and Timothy is the writer.
B. Paul is writing to the Christian church in Colossae, 2.
1. The saints and the faithful are all the same – the brethren, which include men and women, boys and girls.
2. Though Paul uses the usual first century greeting, he does make it Gospel-filled – it is not just a greeting, but a blessing of the Lord.
III. Paul Is Truly Excited about the Colossians' Faith, 3-8.
A. Paul responds to their faith with thanksgiving, 3 – that was Paul's usual reaction to the faith of others.
1 Cor. 1:4 – I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus….
Eph. 1:15-16 – Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you….
Phil. 1:3 – I thank my God upon every remembrance of you….
B. What is Paul thankful for exactly? The Colossians display in their lives the three cardinal Christian virtues of hope, love, and faith, 4-5.
1. Paul heard of their faith in Christ, 4a.
a. They had believed the Gospel that they had heard from Epaphras, 7.
b. So now they were in Christ (brethren in Christ) – they were not longer in Adam, now they were in Christ, see 1:13.
c. Notice that this faith is objectively grounded on propositional truth.
1) The learned it from Epaphras.
2) It is the same truth that is being proclaimed all over the world and bearing fruit, 6.
3) This is a contrast with the false teaching that is threatening them and has only brought bondage.
d. Thus, thought the emotions are involved in this faith, it is not just an emotional response.
e. It is an emotional and cognitive embracing of the truth of the Gospel.
2. Paul also heard that their faith in Christ produced love for all the saints, 4b.
a. All the saints likely means all the saints they came in contact.
1) It implies a disposition to love brethren just because they are brothers and sister in Christ.
2) If my Lord loves them, I will love them too!
b. Though this is not the major point of the passage, the idea that genuine faith in Christ invariably produces love for the brethren is so fundamental to Christianity that it pops up everywhere.
3. Paul also knows that what drives them to love the brethren is, in part, their hope of glory, 5a.
a. Heavenly-minded, or eternity-minded, Christians are the best type there is.
b. Our hope of living forever with the brethren at the return of Jesus Christ, pushes us to love them now.
C. Faith, love, and hope are the result of hearing the truth of the Gospel, 5b-6.
1. The Gospel changes dead, selfish people into fruit-producing, godly people for the glory of God.
2. It is the grace of God that changes people, not obedience to a list of do's and don't's – chpt. 2.
D. Paul is also thankful for their love for him even though they have never met him, 7-8.
1. Paul, in prison, is encouraged by knowing that the brethren love him, 8.
a. Maybe they sent a little gift to him, or maybe it was just the testimony of Epaphras concerning them.
b. Whatever it was Paul's life was better because they loved him.
2. As a side note, Epaphras is called a faithful minister not because of his eloquence or gifts, but because he proclaimed to the Colossians the grace of God in truth, 7.
IV. Paul's Response to Colossians' Faith Is Prayer, 9-12.
A. Paul is not just thankful for the sake of thankfulness; he is thankful to God for the Colossians.
B. So he expresses his thankfulness in prayer.
1. He already hinted that at the end of v. 3.
2. Now he tells us what else he is praying for them.
C. For this reason tells us that Christian prayer for the brethren is offered because they are exactly that: brethren, 9.
1. It is not a matter of affinity.
2. It is not a matter of liking.
3. It is a matter of faith – in other words, Paul is saying that if one believes in the Gospel, then he/she prays for the brethren.
D. The manner of Paul's prayer – constant.
1. Alwaysin v. 3 and do not cease in in v. 9.
2. The idea here is not that Paul is praying for them every waking moment, but that they regularly in his prayers.
E. The content of Paul's prayer is unlike any of our ordinary prayers when we get together to pray as a Church.
1. Paul prays that the Lord would fill the Colossians with the knowledge of his will, 9b.
a. He wants them to grow in knowing God and applying that knowledge.
b. The will of God here is not a subjective, should I marry this person or go to that college sort of thing, but the objective will of God revealed in his Word – the truth of grace, the Gospel --- explained in Eph.
Eph. 1:7-10 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
2. Paul wants them to know God better so that they may live for his glory, 10.
a. The word that (better so that) indicates the purpose or even result of what was said before.
b. As the Colossians are filled with the knowledge of God through the Scriptures, they are able walk worthy of the Lord.
1) Walkmeans live, but it paints a great picture of the practicality of knowing God – it changes the way we go about your day.
2) Walking worthy of the Lord does not mean that one becomes worthy by behaving a certain way.
3) It means that one lives according to whom he is Christ, 3:1-4.
a) If your part of the Smith family, behaving a certain way doesn't make you a Smith, you are already one.
b) But behaving in a certain way may show that you stand for what the Smiths stand for, that is, worthy of being a Smith.
4) That is pleasing to the Lord because your life matches your faith and declares his glory.
c. A walk worthy of the Lord is described by the clause, "being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…."
3. Paul prays that they will be strengthened unto patience, 11.
a. The beginning of that prayer (strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power) makes one think that Paul is going say something like, "so that you can proclaim the Gospel to all nations," or, "so that you can die for the sake of Christ."
b. Yet this majestic prayer (strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power) is to the end that the Colossians be patient and longsuffering.
1) These two words are virtually synonymous, but we can discern the following nuance:
a) Patience is literally to bear under, to operate under a burden and speaks of endurance under negative circumstances.
b) Longsuffering is literally to have very little movement and eventually came to mean the opposite of anger and speaks of the way we relate to people, particularly challenging people.
c. Thus, Paul prays that all the might of God be poured into us so that we might be patient with another and endure the negative circumstances of life.
d. Then, there is joy.
1) There is some discussion as to what is the phrase with joymodifying, that is, is Paul praying that the Colossians be patient with joy, or that they with joy give thanks? NKJV and ESV former, NIV and NASB former.
2) I think it is best to take with patience.
3) So, Paul is praying that the Colossians are able to patient with another by the grace of God and that they rejoice in being patient with another.
4. Paul prays that they would be a thankful people for God's bringing them into Christ and into each other as heirs of eternal life.
a. God qualifies those who will inherit eternal life – "to cause someone or something to be adequate for something…" Louw Nida
b. Together we will inherit eternal life.
V. How Shall We Then Live?
A. God in Christ has saved us through the proclamation of Gospel into a body, the Church, in order for us to live out our faith in Christ by loving those who Christ redeemed alongside us.
B. As we going to see time and again in this letter, it is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as described in the Gospel that saves, not obedience to any set of rules, biblical or extra-biblical.
C. A mark of genuine faith in us is thankfulness for the brethren – those far way, and those next to us.
D. Christian thankfulness is displayed in prayer for the brethren and joyful patience with the brethren.
1. As important as physical wellbeing is, spiritual wellbeing is even more important.
2. I am sure Paul cared for the physical wellbeing of the Colossians and that he even prayed for that, but the prayer he shares with them is for their growth in Christ.
E. An eternal perspective will make a big difference on how we approach life now.
1. We want what is helpful now.
2. We want sermons that tell us how things will get better now.
3. But according to Paul, there is really nothing more helpful to now, to our walk, than to know that we have a future inheritance that cannot be taken away from us because it has been purchased by the blood of Christ.
4. That this life and its afflictions are just a small bump on the way to glory.
5. That this life and its joys are nothing compared to the joy of eternal life.
6. So, do we really have to get all tied up in knots when somebody wrongs us or gets in the way of something?
Conclusion
God has transformed you through Jesus Christ. He has qualified you for the inheritance of eternal life. Through faith in Jesus as presented in the Gospel, you now go and love and pray and be patient with the brethren.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2016/09/thankful-for-brethren-colossians-11-12.html
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