athletics in his own day and the famous games that took place in that region and he uses that
frequently in his epistles. Athletics, wrestling, boxing, all of these energetic activities he finds
very useful in order to apply them as illustrations of different aspects of the Christian life.
Philippians 3 verse 13, remember they're thinking about straining ahead to the things that lay ahead
and the imagery there is of the athlete coming to the final finishing stretch, reaching forward to
press himself through the tape in order to achieve the goal and you'll find the same thing here in
verse 29 of the first chapter where you find him using the words struggling and then in the first
verse of chapter 2 he uses the word struggle so the verb is there in verse 29 the noun struggle in
chapter 2 verse 1 and that's all to do with the effort that he is putting into the work that he's
doing as an apostle as a servant of Christ not just for these Christians in Colossae but also others for
whom he has a burden and responsibility and so that is repeated you can find yourselves different passages
that have similar sentiments 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12 where he talks there in 2 Timothy 4 verse 7
speaking of himself there as somebody who's coming to the end of his course I have kept I fought the good
fight I have kept the faith and so on you'll find the same in Luke chapter 13 where you find there an
emphasis on on that same sort of imagery Luke 13 at verse 24 where you find words that are similar to
the apostle just to show that they're not just confined to the apostle Luke 13 and verse 24 where you find
the Lord saying someone said to him Lord will those who are saved be few and he said to them strive to enter
through the narrow door so you find the same imagery there make every effort put all your energy into
getting through the narrow door into the kingdom of God into salvation and then when you go to Colossians
chapter 4 you find verse 12 there very similarly to what you have here in verse 2 in chapter 2
chapter 4 verse 12 where we read that Epaphras who is one of you a servant of Christ Jesus greets you
always struggling on your behalf in his prayers and he's not saying they're struggling in prayer in
terms of not really being able to pray it's not struggle in that sense though some of us very much
are aware of that struggle there just means exactly the same as chapter 2 verse 1 here this energetic
effort putting his effort into this he's really struggling in prayer he's putting everything
into his prayer the effort he puts into his prayers for them and it's not surprising you find all of
these emphases especially in Colossians here because this is a letter written to a church that were
really having problems with false teaching and false teachers who were facing the kind of false teaching
about salvation that said to them look Christ is not enough you need something more than Jesus you need
more than the righteousness that's in Christ you need something more than what the apostle Paul taught
that we are justified through faith in Christ that everything we require is there in Christ as the
provision of God and that's where you find all of these kinds of references throughout Colossians
to false teaching using words probably borrowed from the false teachers themselves who had an idea that
Christ was not enough and you needed to build up different layers of experience and initiation rights
until you came to know God at last and of course that's how they themselves saw themselves they were the means
by which people were led by them so they thought into a proper knowledge of God and Paul is saying
don't listen to that put that away from you everything that you already need that you need has already
been given to you it's all in Christ Jesus as we'll see he mentions here that deposited in him are all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge and of course that sort of teaching that sort of false teaching
is very unsettling heresy is always unsettling false teaching is always discouraging to congregations
discouraging unsettling to Christians which is why you find combined here not only the sufficiency of
Christ but the unity of God's people in Christ and it's a unity first of all in love and in the truth and we'll
see in these first few verses verses one to three how both of these aspects in relation to unity are so
important it's unity in love and in truth not just in love or not just in truth it's unity in love and
truth as these are inseparably connected together in the scheme of God in the Christians experience
so let's look at that first of all unity in love and in the truth and you notice this word
encouraged I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for
those who have not seen me face to face and some take the view that Paul had never met the Colossians
there's no record of him in the New Testament having been at Colossae or having established the
the work in Colossae others take a different view but there's no record of him having been there in any
case he's saying those have not seen me face to face I include them that their hearts may be encouraged
the purpose and aim of the apostles struggle for them and I'm sure he means struggle in the sense of
Epaphras's struggle in chapter four and in prayer as well all the effort that he's expending on their
behalf and remembering them and praying for them and writing this to them that it's all directed to this
that they might be encouraged that their hearts may be encouraged and the word encouraged there is
a word that's very very similar indeed the same root as the words in the New Testament in John
especially John's gospel for the Holy Spirit who is the encourager the comforter the person who comes
alongside literally means to come alongside and speak to us to encourage us so encouragement really
in the New Testament sense of it is something that has both comfort and fortification you get comfort
through the ministry of the gospel but you get fortification you are fortified through it as well
you're strengthened and all of that's built into what Paul is saying this is why I have this great
struggle for you so that their hearts may be encouraged you cannot look at any or read anything from
the apostle in terms such as these and fallen with those who thought that Paul was a very distant
character that he was a very harsh character the modern representations of Paul would see him as
somebody who was really pretty much a formalist kind of character he was just interested in theology
giving out these great schemes of theology and all these letters that have all this theology in them
but really was he somebody who could get close to was it somebody who was genuinely interested in
people's well-being yes he was this is no cold distant formalist this is a man who wants to get alongside
people this is a man who really seeks to understand where they're at what they're suffering why they're
suffering what they need in terms of teaching advice guidance support now of course a great
challenge to ourselves because from this passage itself you can actually just
detect the warmth and the heart of the apostle for these Christians at Colossae and it reminds
ourselves that whatever we place we give to theology and we give theology or should be giving to theology
a very important foundational place in our thinking
we have to have along with that this genuine warmth of affection and concern and prayerfulness and
struggle for people to develop in their faith to grow in their faith to have their lives built up
in God's truth so he's first of all saying it's to encourage them that they may be encouraged
but then he says being knit together in love so it's for encouragement but also connected with that
is that they are knit together in love in other words this is the unity that he's now introducing
the unity of God's people the unity of these Christians and Colossae and in that unity they must face the
heretics in that unity they must see to it that as they grow in grace and as they grow in knowledge
as they grow in understanding so they're growing also in closeness and in regard to each other
because that's how they must face the heretics that they must face the false teaching that wants to
just take them away from everything being already for them in Christ
knit together in love
this is no mere outward organized religion
all is certainly organized and wants people to be organized he's commending them as we see
in the later part here rejoicing to see your your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ
Paul is not about everything just being done loosely or casually or just come what may and people just
following their own inclinations no he has to have an order to his theology and an order to his
Christian life and an order to the congregation is writing to and that's an important facet of being
Christians together in this world our unity is not a disordered organization it is an ordered unity it's
having things in the right place as God himself specified or leads and you could follow that point
out yourselves but it's crucial that we see here this unity that he's speaking of being knit together
is being knit together in love in love
there is in fact no proper unity without love without Christian love
because without Christian love unity breaks down or isn't really there at all in any meaningful sense
but being knit together closely bound together in love love is is crucial
to our unity see what he's saying in chapter 3 and verse 14 if you uh just cast your mind forward to that
he's saying put on in verse 12 as chosen ones God's chosen one put on he's talking here the language of
clothing yourselves put on holy put on kindness put on humility put on meekness put on patience
bearing with one another and if anyone has a complaint against another forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven
you and above all these put on love in other words he's saying these are the spiritual garments you put on as
Christians and there's a garment over and above all of them that really keeps them all together
that keeps them from being dissipated or losing their effectiveness
what is that garment that binds everything together in perfect harmony it is love
the love that's patterned on the love of God the love of Christ himself
so being knit together in love so you see the way the the argument is proceeding
I'm struggling for you I have this great energetic struggle for you and it's so that your hearts may be encouraged
and so that they'll be encouraged being knit together in love and then what what is the objective
what is he then saying all of this unity and of this uh of of of this um struggle that he has for them
that they be encouraged it's so that they will reach all the riches of fuller of full assurance
of understanding of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery which is in Christ
what a packed phrase I mean you'd need more than remaining 10-15 minutes to even
unpack um the main parts of that he's talking here about God's mystery which is in Christ and when Paul
speaks about mystery in this sense he always speaks about things which were hidden
in the old testament days or all the way through or partly or mostly hidden but now have been revealed
the mystery of salvation the wonderful truth of salvation which in part was revealed in the old
testament but waited until the coming of Christ the fullness of God's revelation in him
has now been revealed and he says this is what my struggle is for you and for those in Laodicea
that being knitted together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding
and the knowledge of God's mystery which is in Christ God's revealed truth in Christ and you see
he's saying here they are deposited in Christ um in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge doesn't mean here hidden in the sense of not not not seen at all or absolutely hidden out of
view what he means I think he's borrowing again the language of of um of these mystics of these false
teachers who themselves were saying well we can show you the mysteries we can show you the hidden
mysteries you need to follow our directions before you can come into knowing about God and knowing about
salvation and Paul is saying that's all deposited in Christ already and they are hidden in the sense of
deposited already in him it's all there in him
it's been essentially revealed by God now that's an important point in itself because there are no
essential truths from God out with Christ there are no essential truths from God that are to do with
God's salvation out with Christ Christ has himself he is himself the place where the wisdom where the
mystery where the treasure of wisdom or knowledge and knowledge are already deposited God's salvation
salvation in Christ he's saying to them this is what you need this is all you need this is really
the complete Christ and you are complete in him remember that remember that when other groups in today's
world will tell you you know you you people are very backward you should really add this or add that
add speaking in tongues add this that and the other to what you already experienced you've got something
already yes that's good but you need to add other things before you can go further in your
spiritual experience no the apostle is saying the bible is saying you already have everything in
Christ you already have the holy spirit in you if you're a believer and when you have the holy spirit
in you and you have the these treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ there is no essential truth
out with that it's all there for you already that's why the struggle that he has in prayer for them
is that they'll come to the full assurance and understanding of all of these things of the gospel and of the salvation
that is in Christ now you see how love and unity in the truth are combined together unity involves both love
and truth love for God and love for each other and truth that is to say the truth that God has revealed
in the gospel and we need to keep these together
because love needs to be given structure for it to be love in the biblical sense
and what is it that gives love structure it is the truth of God
if you detach love or the idea of love from the from the Bible from the truth of God
you've no longer got a structure to your love and love needs a structure and has a structure to it
because it's come it is it is the love that God is revealing to us that that Christians are to have
for him and for one another it's love that's embedded in the truth of God the truth is foundational truth to it
and that structure and purpose is given by the truth of God in other words if you go by Paul's by by Paul's teaching here
if you go by the whole of the Bible essentially it actually demolishes this daft idea that you have in the world today that love is love
what is that saying it's not really saying very much because love then is up to yourself how you define it
the structure that you give it is really nothing more than your own idea of what love is
and even if it's the most debauched thing in the teaching of the Bible and you call it love
love is love is what we're told well that of course is nonsense
there is no structure to that there is no basis to that
nothing living to that except people's own wishful thinking and all people's own prejudices or predilections
love is love only when it is love in the truth and love of the truth and love structured by the truth
and sadly our world and I'm not excluding aspects of the church in our world
no longer hold to this wonderful wonderful teaching of the Bible that love is as God himself defines it
or else it ceases to be love in that true sense
the ideology love is love is really love based on my truth my idea of truth what I make truth to be for myself
and that's just hopeless it leads to despair it leads to lifestyles that are simply completely out of control at times
and certainly out of sync with the Bible's teaching
so friends there is love and truth together and unity in love and in truth which is what we ourselves prize
not just unity for its own sake but unity in love a unity which begins in the heart
or which issues from the heart in love and a love which is structured by the truth of God
and has substance to it because of that
but secondly verse 4 briefly look at what he says here
this I say in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments
now he's been speaking of a unity in love and in the truth
and now he's moving to something connected to that unity threatened by plausible arguments
I am writing this to you in order that no one may delude you
and that really means to be deceived to be deluded or even to be self-deceived
because very often false teaching is very persuasive
and that's why he's calling here the misleading of the mind
the mind being actually led away from what it should be focused on
me saying being deluded with plausible arguments
heresy can be very very plausible
and those who present heresy to us can have very very plausible ways of doing it
they can sometimes sadly be much more friendly than genuine Christians trying to represent the truth as it is in Christ
but plausible arguments
are no substitute for knowing the truth
not that the truth need to be seen as an implausible or impossible to set it forth as a plausible argument
what he's saying is there is such a thing in heresy
such a thing in untruth such a thing in false teaching as plausible arguments
because error is so often appealing
and it's designed to catch the mind
that's why verse 7 there is so crucial
you see what he's saying there in verse 7
as you received Christ Jesus so walk in him
rooted and built up in him
and established in the faith
just as you were taught
he's saying there there's there's the faith
there's the truth of God
you are established
you're built up in the faith
that's your foundation
the truth of God
and so on the basis of that
you walk
you live out your life
you conduct yourself
and it's important for us all tonight
that we see to it that we are not weak
in our understanding of God's vital truth
because if we don't make the effort
if we don't try and keep filling our minds with God's truth
that's partly why we're here tonight
it's part of our worship
to actually receive
we trust a greater understanding of what the word of God is saying to us
the spiritual food for our souls
because if we're weak in that sense
if we just neglect feeding our souls spiritually and God's truth
then we're going to be open
to the plausible arguments
of heresy
or of the world
and that's why it's so important
to have a greater grasp of truth today than I had yesterday
because the more you have
strength and the more you have
this grasp of God's truth increasingly
the less likely it is
that plausible arguments will lead you away
from the truth as it is in Christ
I'm writing this
I'm saying this he says to you
in order that no one may delude you
with plausible arguments
whenever you find something
that just doesn't feel right to you
doesn't that doesn't seem to be just quite in accordance with it
where do you take it
you take it to the truth of God
you take it to the Bible
you measure it against the truth
as God has revealed it
and not just in in the Bible itself
but as countless generations of faithful Christians
and theologians through to Christ
have given the church the distilled wisdom that you find
in the church's creeds and confessions
and commentaries and so on
fill your mind with that
let that be the structure
that really brings stability to your hearts
to your lives
and then you'll be buttressed
you'll then be defended
you'll be built up against
the plausible arguments of heresy
that are designed to lead you away
remember heresy is always designed
to lead you away from the truth
doesn't matter what kind of heresy it is
that's what's at the heart of it
that's what the purpose of it is
heresy is ultimately from the enemy of the church
and even if there are many truths
along with the main untruth that's being presented
it's still hugely damaging
so unity threatened by plausible arguments
and he's saying
I'm saying this in order that no one may delude you
so that you will have this encouragement
so that you will be knitted together in love
or being knitted together in love
that you will reach full understanding
and assurance of the knowledge
of God's mystery
which is Christ
study Christ
study the gospel
study
everything that you see revealed
to do with your salvation in Christ
but then finally this
unity
is not just in love and in truth
unity threatened by plausible arguments
unity
is a cause of rejoicing
see what he's saying
finally in verse 5
though I'm absent in body
yet I'm with you in spirit
rejoicing to see
your good order
and the firmness of your faith
in Christ
Paul is not with them
in person
but he's very much with them
in mind and spirit
and as he's with them in spirit
in mind
that's why he's saying
this is my great struggle for you
I'm with you
I'm in support of you
I'm there to encourage you
I'm there to
give you the comfort
and the stability
that you need to go on
as you've begun
walk in Christ
as you began
in Christ
now he's using here
military terms
another favourite
metaphor of the apostle
along with athletic terms
was military terms
and when he's talking here
about good order
and firmness
he's borrowing that
from the military world
where you find
what you might call
closed ranks
against the enemy
an efficient army
under attack
will close ranks
they won't leave gaps
that's where the unity
comes in
but here he's saying
I rejoice to see
your good order
and the firmness
of your faith
in Christ
that you're maintaining
this unity
in love
and in truth
and the terms
that he uses
there
remind us
that
the greatest
threat
to the gospel
and to our own
spiritual progress
and to the well-being
of any congregation
of people
is always
from inside
the greatest threat
is always
from inside
that's where it begins
that's where disunity
begins
that's where heresy
begins
and so he's saying
be sure
that what you're doing
is like me
struggling
in prayer
putting all the effort
that you need
and have opportunity
for
so that you may be
encouraged
knit together in love
that you reach
all the riches
of full assurance
of understanding
and the knowledge
of God's mystery
which is Christ
this Christ
not any Christ
of human imagining
not the Christ
of the heretics
but this Christ
the Christ
in which God
has revealed
all the treasure
and deposited them
in him
of wisdom
and knowledge
and rejoicing
friends
we're blessed
with unity
nothing's perfect
no church
in the world
has a perfect unity
but we're blessed
with unity
we're together
we serve the Lord
we're together
we seek each of us
to contribute
to the overall
well-being
of the congregation
and indeed
of the wider
cause of Christ
and that is
cause for rejoicing
cause for thankfulness
yes we
we seek certainly
to be
defended
or defend ourselves
against
plausible arguments
that are heretical
that will lead us
away from the truth
but we rejoice
when God has blessed us
with good order
and firmness
with unity
in the things
of his salvation
and his praise
so may God
bless these thoughts
and Fstand
say
I'll stop
letting Him
tell
people
are
can't
in the
verse