Colossians Episode 1

hello everybody i want to welcome you one more time to another wednesday night bible study uh live stream here at cornerstone apostolic church always a great pleasure great joy to have you join with us as we go to the scriptures and dive into the word of the lord and to its plans and purposes and everything that's connected to the scriptures always a great time together to go into them uh for the last several weeks i know that those of you have joined in every week you'll notice that we have been looking deeper into the letters that paul wrote to churches in the new testament they were established churches and paul was very very paramount if you will he was very uh strong in trying to get the believers the new followers the new christians if you will in the right teaching in the right frame of mind so uh all of the letters that he wrote they all have kind of a different tone to them paul would have been included or involved or associated with establishing those works so he would have had some great influence and so forth on them um all of this that paul was writing to them was is bread of life okay it was for them it is for us today it always has been um when we gather to study what we notice is that we are maturing we are gaining knowledge and strength and encouragement about the things of god that's why i ask you every week take notes uh gather the family around get your bible out uh go through it uh pause if you need to go back later uh share it with somebody we now have the opportunity on our app and on our website that you can share the live stream uh do that and uh parents this is a great time throughout the week to spend some time with your kids looking into the word of the lord helping them to build and develop a love and a passion for the word of god like you do and in turn that will help them as they grow and mature in their future we're going to begin with prayer we always do uh we we pray for our church we pray for cornerstone apostolic church we pray for our community we pray for our nation the united are entering into states of 2020 and things are changing things are happening around us um we need the the mind and the direction of god for each other for the church for our families let's pray for that pray for the military men and women first responders that are on the front lines if you will protecting and taking care of us i also ask you to pray for our missionaries around the globe um they spend so much time away from family and friends and and investing into the kingdom of god and their countries pray for them that god will give them revival and will protect them and all of this that is going on and also make sure you pray for the needs that you know about physical financial emotional uh maybe sickness or disease a co-worker a neighbor a family friend pray for them mention their name to the lord okay let's pray together jesus we love you lord and we thank you so much for another opportunity to gather together and study the word it's a great privilege lord just to know that your bible that we have lord the bible that we hold so dear your word that's given to us lord it changes us it it makes us lord to be better at what we need to be doing and to find out and discover lord the right things and the righteous ways to do things tonight lord we gather here and we're thankful for this opportunity i pray lord for our city i pray for our community for our nation god bless the united states of america god bless our leaders i pray lord for our military men and women our first responders lord i pray for our missionaries around the globe lord you see what's going on in our world but you're still in control we still trust you believe in you i pray lord for physical needs financial needs emotional needs lord you know what's going on you know god's salvation that needs to be found by people who are hungry for you in the name of jesus lead us tonight as we go to your word let us fall in love with you again and again as we discover more and more about you in the name of jesus we pray amen all right tonight uh we are going to begin a two-part session on the epistle of colossians all right we've done galatians in ephesians and philippians and tonight we will begin with the first chapter of colossians now a little foundation here if i could um this is a letter that paul wrote to the churches that were um in the area of colossae uh asia if you will and uh paul himself at this time somewhere around 60 a.d he would have been in a roman jail as you've noticed uh several of the letters that we've looked at he's been in jail we discover though as we're going through these and colossians tonight is no different that paul is trying his best although he's removed from them being in a jail he is still trying to connect with them so he has people that have come to the jail visit him whatever and in the meantime he has them right and write down what he says his letter of encouragement to them and then they take that and they go and they read it to and share it with the churches now most of the letters that paul wrote or that are at the hand of paul if you will they weren't physically written by him that we know of there was probably just the one ephesians but what we do know is that the laborers that paul had had those that i just mentioned that would come and write it and take it they were deeply in love with the work of god uh you can tell that by the way paul in his letters mentions them talks about how they're taking care of him and how that they are working and doing the things that god has called them to do now when you look at uh the book of acts that's where we first find the churches especially this one for an example it's mentioned in the 19th chapter of act acts it mentions that there's a group in colossae the scripture declares that paul had gone into the many areas of asia and he preached the gospel and established a lot of family a lot of house churches if you will a lot of groups around cities and so forth and paul continues to support those works through his letters and through prayer and through just staying in communication with him now in the this is an interesting i want to begin tonight's lesson with this if i could uh in acts chapter 2 uh this is what the bible says notice is acts chapter 2 verse 7 okay and they were all amazed and marveled all right something really incredibly powerful had happened you can go back and read the second chapter of acts and find out if you don't already know but if you get to verse 7 they were amazed and marveled saying one to another behold are not these which speak galileans and how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born parthians and medes elamites and dwellers in mesopotamia and in judea and in cappadocia in pontus and asia pergya and pamphilia in egypt and in the parts of libya about cyrene and strangers of rome jews and proselytes cretes and arabians we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of god do you hear it in that list asia was mentioned so interesting how that chapter 19 last week if you recall it was philippians it was chapter 16 chapter 19 of acts uh now paul is going through after the upper room experience where paul was not he is now going through to these churches that all started in a book of acts explosion pentecost how cool is that the connection here is that those who were on the street in the in the rooms and the houses wherever they're in jerusalem on the day of pentecost in acts chapter two that is the area where it was poured out and colossey is one of the areas that was represented there so it's very possible and most likely that some who were there on the day of pentecost in jerusalem are actually in the church that paul went back through in these towns or went through these cities and they found these churches and now they're coming together in these different areas making churches you know i wanted to mention that tonight because god always plans things perfectly he always has an exact way that he wants to do something all right now notice we're going to pick up here in colossians chapter one there's a greeting there at the beginning but i want to jump in at verse number three we give thanks to god and the father our lord jesus christ praying always for you since we heard of your faith in christ jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven whereof you have heard before the world before the word before in the word i'm sorry of the truth of the gospel which is come unto you as it is in all the world and bringeth forth fruit as doth also in you since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of god in truth verse 7 and ye also learned of epiphanes and our dear fellow servant who is for you a faithful minister of christ who also declared unto us your love in the spirit um notice that paul always mentions that he prays for them okay paul always mentions in his letter how that as i mentioned on the outside of this the session tonight that a lot of guys and ladies and men they were helping paul in these newly established works i want to call them churches per se some of them were just small house plants if you will they were just home groups they were meeting in in front of front porches or in living rooms or wherever that would have been at that particular day but paul is vested in their success for future revival he thanks god for them he also mentions many times the names of those who are ministers or or workers in the churches there he loved those churches they're doing what the spirit of god was instructing them to do paul would have instructed them to do that okay fruit is seen on their behalf because of their investment into the kingdom of god workers continue to develop continue to develop other workers they continue to train the churches the churches continue to move forward on and on it goes and paul although he's in a jail in rome he still takes the time makes sure that he communicates with the churches via a letter now the reason that's important is because we're in 2020 and we're still reading those letters they still affect us directly today i'm convinced that god had his hand in the salvation of paul because he had a purpose and a plan for paul generations down the way now in colossians the first chapter verse 10 notice what it says that ye might walk worthy of the lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of god strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patients along suffering with joyfulness giving thanks unto the father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who have delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son verse 14 in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sin paul encourages them notice what he uses here and this this is the declaration walk worthy this is a journey walk worthy move forward do it with patience do it with long suffering uh be joyful about it give thanks at every opportunity just by the fact that you are involved and included in the work of god now i i i just have to say my point of view sitting here tonight in uh 2020 i don't know if those guys those ladies those women those children teenagers young folk i don't know if those in that day that were part of this church or any of these churches that the letters were written to i really don't think for a moment they thought you know what in 1500 years from now somebody's going to be reading these letters not really sure that they understood the significance and the incredible challenge that was set before them to establish a foundation that could be built upon generation to generation to generation what an incredible opportunity they had i don't think they knew it but i'm sure glad that they did what they did the reason i mentioned that is we don't know the next generation is coming from us that's why it's vitally important that we spend time in the word of the lord studying and understanding it so we can continue and pass it on paul emphasizes in this portion the need for working the power the the ability that the blood of jesus christ has on a life on an individual that is a god work okay paul he even emphasizes i this is not me this is a spiritual thing this is the blood of jesus christ that is making this able to be done he continues in verse 15 notice this who is the image of the invisible god the firstborn of every creature this is some pretty powerful revelation that paul had gotten verse 16 for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones dominions principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist paul's talking about jesus the firstborn of every creature now wait a minute i thought that this is before everything the bible that we read in genesis moses put those words together in the beginning god created i i'm thoroughly convinced the revelation that paul got establishes the reality of the one god this is not a trinitarian thing no this is because jesus christ flesh was there before the foundation of the world that's our god all right and and paul is making sure they understand that all things created in heaven earth visible invisible powers dominions principalities all this was created by him and for him is talking about jesus and he is before all things and by him all things consist they have their consistency there god's image is how we are developed correct if that's the case then all that is done all that is made is by the hand of god seen and unseen all right royalty all the things of power all the things of of of of the ability to make decisions and and that control the whole universe if you will by him talking about jesus all these things were made that are in the world heaven the earth so forth verse 18 notice and he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence for it please the father that in him should all fullness dwell okay if you father if you want to call that god but in in jesus all fullness dwells and having made peace through the blood of his cross talking about jesus cross by him to reconcile all things to himself talk about jesus by him i say whether they be things on earth or things in heaven what paul again this is revelation to paul and he is passing this to the church of colossians and he's telling them very specifically here that do not confuse the fact that you might think or somebody out in outside the church or somebody in this doctrine or somebody in this belief they may be trying to understand it with their mind their fleshly mind but they don't mind the things of the spirit when you understand that jesus was their beginning that connects him because he is directly the deity of god jesus christ the head of the church his body he's head of that in him all things dwell all things have power because of him heaven and earth it's all in jesus that's a great lesson for your parents to teach your children go verse by verse and express and explain to them so they understand even as young as they could be what it means to serve one god that's vitally important for your children verse 26 he continues here in chapter one even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to his saints to whom god would make known that excuse me that god will make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles which is christ in you the hope of glory whom we preach warning every man teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in christ jesus whereunto i also labor striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily a mystery is how paul describes this a mystery um what does this mean how is this let me understand riches of his glory okay that rich is that that that valuable thing is christ that's jesus in you which gives you hope of glory wow what a promise what a promise of the word of god that we can live by he is in us that hope is in us that jesus is in us and the more we share with others than others will have that in them as well imagine a whole world full of people that are full of jesus somebody say amen wouldn't that be an incredible thing now if we shift into colossians the second chapter um i want to begin reading there for for tonight's lesson in verse number four 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 the spirit okay joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in christ 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 uh paul warned this is every letter that paul has written to what we've been looking at over the last several weeks he warns the church if you notice that that's consistent every every church every letter wherever it went he would make sure he took time to say there there are things out there that people might try to beguile you they may try to trick you they may try to entice you to do something else okay paul was unable to be there in person for an example at the church as they were growing and so forth he would go visit leave whatever but his spiritual presence was with them it's interesting again this is this is paul the one who had the damascus road experience okay everything he's gotten has come from the revelation that came to him while the work was happening in him okay in that he's always concerned and worried that people are going to be enticed and pulled away and when he uses the word beguile that's that's a phrase that's a term that's been effective throughout in fact if you were to go back to the garden of eden you would find out that there was a subtle creature there who who beguiled the creation of god and lied to her and to him sin entered the world paul knows that's a possibility for anybody okay with that said we have to be rooted in his word in his faith and in his power your faith what you believe and you truly wrap your mind your heart your spirit around your faith should keep you and lead you as you walk every day in and out up and down the road whatever you're doing the faith you have and what god is doing in you needs to be strong don't let enticing things of the world distract you and pull you away i think that's a powerful lesson very needed lesson for 2020. now if you continue colossians chapter 2 verse 8 beware notice what he says lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after christ for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily and ye are complete verse 10 says in him which is the head of all principality and power in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins and the flesh by the circumcision of christ buried with him in baptism wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith the operation of god who hath raised him from the dead well paul is so specific here man's philosophies vain deceit traditions of men i i don't know how more plain that paul could have been to them and how that that connects and echoes far into even our generation into the future how that there are lots of things in the world that can happen that can pull you away from the things of god paul calls them philosophies vain deceit ways that they they for their own glory they try to pull you away traditions of men man made ways of doing things he even mentions the rudiments of the world that's how things started begin the elements of how things begin how worlds are made and developed those are those are things that if you're not careful in whatever generation you're in they can spoil you they can cause you to become dead they can cause you to become un fruitful if that's the case then you can't allow those things to happen to you you've got to learn how to stand up on the word of god on the power of the holy ghost that works in you and you've got to learn how to say you know what in jesus is all of the fullness of the godhead in his body everything that god is is in jesus and because of that hear me when you plead the blood of jesus when you pray in the name of jesus when you baptize in the name of jesus when you call on the name of jesus for healing or deliverance or whatever it is you got to know it's all in that name of jesus in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily it is that jesus who is all in all that we'll ever need when you're baptized you're buried with him there's something that spiritually happens and transpires when you're baptized in his name all right when you come up you are risen with a power in the spirit that you did not have before that moment and paul in this letter to the church of colossians he is very determined to make sure that they stay connected to jesus christ notice what he says here continue in chapter 2 verse 16 let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new moon or of the sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of christ let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding the head capital h in your bible from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment minister knit together increaseth in the increase of god paul most likely by the writing here we've seen in chapter one and now here in chapter two paul has been has been very concerned for the church and colossians perhaps something was going on that he heard about in some of the teachings or the doctrines or the ways that they were interacting with society therefore you'll notice here that paul emphasizes the truth of the word of god he emphasizes that you can get into if i could say it this way probably 2020 the way paul would peop our society can try to make you feel one way or another concerning what you've eaten concerning places you go concerning holidays concerning special days concerning a new moon which means seasonal days concerning sabbath days which one is right which one is wrong on and on and you can get caught up and and choke on those things when they quite honestly they don't have anything to do with making heaven your home they are distractions that's why he mentions beguiling enticing because those simple ways of getting you to question a law or an establishment or the love or the humility or the things that jesus was trying to teach us while he walked on earth and now paul is trying to write to the churches you got to understand something that there if you worship god today you have every right to worship him tomorrow you don't have to wait for a sabbath day you can worship him any moment of any day and if you're going to get caught up and i'll just say this just as an example if you'll get caught up in the dates on a calendar and you only love jesus on christmas you only love jesus on easter you only love jesus on saturday and not sunday or on sunday only and not saturday then you have gotten into the rudiments and the elements and the things that man's traditions has established i don't know how to say that paul knew that this was a possibility evidently he was dealing with it back then and so even even some of these for an example he considers he says some have even gone to worship heavenly beings like angels we've got to be cautious of that stuff stay away from that be closely connected with each other to the name of jesus christ that's that's the whole letter here to the church in colossians make sure you hold on to your brothers and sisters hold each other accountable for the word live strong stable on the word of god let it become part of you listen if you don't understand and get into the word of god more than on sunday and on wednesday you're not going to be strong enough if your kids don't develop a passion a desire a discipline of simply reading the word and getting it in you don't have to ask them to read 30 chapters a day but if they don't understand what the word of god says how will they ever defeat the enemy when he comes after them if i may in closing tonight's lesson uh many adults many even seasoned christians struggle with today and where they are now in their walk because disciplines and things that they could have learned in the word of god they allowed those to be pulled away and now joy is gone serving the lord is a drudgery going to the house of the lord is a pain and so they begin to turn away from it and i think if i may 2020 we're going into the month of september uh cornerstone apostolic church we know what it's like not to have a building we know what it's like to have to stay home and try to watch online a service like you're doing right now we know what it's like to on sunday to have to watch online because we weren't able to come together now i ask you are you strong enough to sustain your love and passion and desire for god or have the things of the world been pulling at you through this time i tell you that that we now more than ever need to develop the love and the passion for the things of god that's why bible study is very important understanding the scripture is very vitally important not just for you mom and dad but for the next generation i've used this before if you're struggling with it now what do you think your kids are going to do i love you that's why i want to go through these studies with you i want to help you help your children your young people your each other to grow and to learn we're going to pray okay we see here through this these first two chapters of colossians how that that we have to stay connected to god as we close this out tonight we're going to pray i want you to pray that lord help me stay connected help me to develop a desire to want to get into your word and know about you and understand you and comprehend your ways and your reasons and why help me lord to get into my heart and my mind let me let me know the word and understand it's custom and culture and and why and how and how come it has been it's done that way and how does it affect us today i want you to pray that lord i thank you for our time together tonight that we've had thank you lord for the word it is a lamp to our feet and light to our pathway lord jesus i pray for every one of us that have sat through this lesson tonight and those in the future who will pray god you would help us lord to develop a passion and a desire to want to know you and understand and comprehend the word it's all we have lord what's all we have is the word that leads and helps and guides us your spirit is right for us and we can be filled with your spirit but we need your word to teach us and to instruct us pray god you would help us to have that and to develop the discipline lord to get into the word and try to understand it i pray for the next generation and the next generation that we would consistently and constantly move forward and grow in you bless our church bless our efforts we love and honor you in everything we thank you for it in jesus name amen amen