Colossians 2:6-7

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In the year 2014, there were four Jehovah's Witness stands between Roger Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts and South Station, Boston.
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The next year, there were eight. The year after, 16.
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And in 2017, last year, there were 24 Jehovah's Witnesses stands.
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That's just between my workplace in Roger Street, Cambridge and South Station, Boston where I take the train to get back home.
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That's a six -fold increase in four years. One of these times,
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I got to talk to them. Actually, I've spoken to them three, four times. And as I shared with them the gospel, they looked at me in awe.
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They're often in pairs. They're very well -dressed. Some of them really look very good.
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And they smile so much that you can see the sun's rays reflecting from their teeth. One Jehovah's Witness I spoke to was so disgusted with the fact that I told him that Jesus Christ is preeminent and that his work alone can save a man.
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Do you know what he asked me? Are you from a cult? He was disgusted of the thought that Jesus Christ is sufficient.
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He was disgusted at the thought that his works couldn't save him. As I walked back to the train station,
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I thought to myself, what a discombobulated mess. While it is true that this man was confused about the
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Lord Jesus Christ and doubted his sufficiency, one thing was clear to me. He and his cult hates the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Even though they have the name Jehovah in their group's title, they hate
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Jehovah and they despise him. And that is very clear.
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What would the Apostle Paul tell people who hated Jesus Christ? What would the
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Apostle Paul tell today to Jehovah's Witnesses? What would he tell you or me in the church today who may doubt his sufficiency, his preeminence?
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He wrote an entire book for us, the Book of Colossians or the Epistle to the
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Church at Colossae, to emphatically remind men and women that Jesus Christ is preeminent in creation and in redemption and that his work is sufficient for all things pertaining to salvation and the things of God.
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He wanted to remind the church that while there's a lot of noise out there about questioning the sufficiency of Christ, there's a lot of chaotic philosophies surrounding them, that they need not worry and that they should not look elsewhere.
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This is a book packed with just four chapters, packed with theology, packed with Christology, all about the
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Son of God. For Paul and for us, there shouldn't be any confusion. There shouldn't be any doubt about who
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Christ is, about his preeminence, about his supremacy in creation and in redemption.
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Tonight, I'm going to look at Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. Two verses, two points.
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Now, if you know the Book of Colossians, there's chapter 1, verse 1 to 2, 3 is all the indicatives.
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It's Christology. He gives cogent proof on who Christ is and how he is preeminent in all things.
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And then from chapter 2, verse 3 to 4, 6, he gives you the imperatives. Here's Christ preeminent.
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Now, here's how you should be thinking and how you should be living. But at the heart of Colossians is this section, chapter 2, verses 6 to 15.
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It's the heart of Colossians. It's the hinge between the two sections I just mentioned. And on top of that, there's a core section to this section, and that is verses 6 and 7.
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It is crucial to understand these two verses before you can look at any of the other verses, before you can understand what is being said.
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Let's read it together. Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7. Therefore, as you received
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Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
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The first clause there deals with the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord and we, believers, because this letter is to the believers in Colossae, we have entered the
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Lordship in Christ. Second clause, continue to live in him. Continue to work out what does it mean to live and to think under the
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Lordship of Christ. To live and to think under the Lordship of Christ.
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From these two verses, I want to give you two ways not to be a mentally disoriented
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Christian, not to be confused, distracted, befuddled.
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As the world around us, even some in the church, are doubting the work of Christ, doubting his sufficiency, here
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Paul reminds us on what we need to turn to when there's false teaching all around.
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Two ways not to be a mentally disoriented Christian. Point number one, the preeminent
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Christ is Lord. The preeminent Christ is
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Lord. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him.
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First question we ask is, where is therefore coming from? What was said before? Well, in verses 1 to 3 of chapter 2,
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Paul tells them how to be encouraged to grow by focusing on Christ.
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They were already doing it. He tells them continue to do it. Continue to do that by remembering that Jesus Christ is the repository of all knowledge and wisdom.
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And then he says this in verse 4, I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
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Don't be tricked. Don't be deceived. Don't be fooled.
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There is false teaching around. There are high -sounding knowledgeable arguments, knowledgeable chatter around that question not only the sufficiency of Christ, but also the
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Lordship of Christ. Paul is telling us not to be deceived.
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And then he goes on to say, as you receive Christ Jesus, the Lord, what does receive
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Christ Jesus, the Lord mean? And who did they receive it from?
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Now, Paul uses the word receive many times in the New Testament. An example in Galatians chapter 1 verse 9, he says this, as we have said before, so now
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I say again, if anyone is preaching to a gospel contrary to the one you have received, let him be accursed.
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In those texts and many other texts that you see the word receive used in the New Testament, Paul uses it to denote receiving the word, receiving the gospel.
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But in Colossians, keeping in theme with the high Christology, he's talking about receiving the
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Lord Jesus Christ. This is the only verse, Paul, this is the only verse and the only place in the
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New Testament where Paul uses the word receive with a personal object. Why?
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Like I said, he's still staying focused on the theme of Colossians, which is high Christology. Now you may thinking receive
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Christ, ooh, that sounds like a seeker sensitive thing to say, Linton. But to receive the
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Lord Jesus Christ according to Colossians and the New Testament is two things, to believe in the person of Christ, number one, and number two, to believe in the apostolic teaching on who
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Christ is and the significance of the work he has done. That's what it means to receive
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Christ. It's not like we see in other churches or places where it means that there's some weird, visible manifestation of the
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Holy Spirit where you start to spit or make pig noises. That's not what it means to receive
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Christ according to the New Testament. It is to believe in his person and to be committed to the apostolic teaching of the
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Lord Jesus Christ and the significance of the work he has done. Next, who did they receive this from?
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As Jonathan read Colossians chapter 1, 7 and 8, just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant.
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Epaphras is a faithful minister. He is one much loved by Paul. Paul is his mentor.
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And clearly what Paul is doing here, he's contrasting Epaphras, the truthful minister, the faithful minister, with the false teachers who are doing nothing but belittling the gospel and questioning the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
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Epaphras stands in stark contrast to the false teachers. And that is from whom they received the gospel and received specifically here the doctrine of Christ.
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Therefore, verse 6, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord. Master, the
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Greek for Lord, kurios, Christ Jesus the Lord. When we look at this, we don't see the sequence.
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Christ Jesus the Lord. This is the only place in the
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New Testament that Paul uses the sequence. The only place in the
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New Testament. Usually when we read about the title of Christ, whether it's Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ the
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Lord, or Christ Jesus the Lord, we don't stop to think about the significance in the context.
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We read by it quickly because we're so used to that title and so used to those words, we don't stop to think about what they mean.
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But we should. Here there's a sequence and it goes back to the transitive verb, receive
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Jesus Christ as Lord. Paul is echoing the early
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Christian confession here. The preeminent one, the supreme one is
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Lord, master, king. Now, what was the early confession?
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We can look at several verses. I'll pick one. 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 5.
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For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus's sake.
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We should look at one more. Philippians chapter 2 verse 9 to 11. Therefore, God has highly exalted him, him being the
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Lord Jesus Christ and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
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And here it is again. And every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is
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Lord to the glory of God the Father. Remember this section here, verses 6 to 15 is the hinge.
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It's the hinge between the first part of the book and the second part of the book. Inspired by the
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Holy Spirit, Paul's use of Christ Jesus the Lord is significant.
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He is bridging Christology with what it means to be a Christian. He's bridging this powerful, vital doctrine of Christ with what it means for a believer every day, how it impacts the way he thinks, how it impacts the way he lives, how the way he behaves.
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He's bridging that for us. But before he gets there in verse 7, he's rehearsing the truth.
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He goes on to talk about how should you live, how should you think because Jesus Christ is preeminent.
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But before he gets there, watch how Paul rehearses the truth about the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And we should rehearse it too. How does he do that?
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By defining Christ Jesus the Lord. Now you may ask the question, where did he define that?
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Chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 3. Specifically, when you see the word
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Christ Jesus the Lord, especially in the book of Colossians, this is what it implies.
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Number 1, He is the image of the invisible God. Chapter 1 verse 15. He is the firstborn of all creation.
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1 -15. Head of the body, the church. 1 -18.
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Mystery of God. 2 -2 and 1 -7. And finally, the repository of all wisdom and knowledge.
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So next time, you think about the title, you think about Christ Jesus the
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Lord. Stop. Think about what it truly means. Because we don't often stop to do so.
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Maybe it's laziness, maybe there are other reasons. But we have forgotten the gravitas of this name and the title.
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We have forgotten sometimes because of whatever reason, because the noise around us of who
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Christ is, what He has done and the truth that He is returning soon. We have forgotten that.
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Jesus Christ is Lord. And we see that clearly in the verses before us.
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And for repetition, so that you don't forget. Christ Jesus the Lord. Image of the invisible
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God. Firstborn of all creation. Mystery of God. Head of the church, the body.
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And repository of all knowledge and wisdom. That's the way we look at Him. That's the way we should remember and think on the
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Lord Jesus Christ. So how do you avoid mental disorientation as Christians?
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How do you avoid all the false teaching around us? What is the antidote to false teaching?
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Christology. Doctrine of Christ. And like I said before in chapter 1 verse 1 to 2, 3,
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Paul gives us cogent proof, sufficient evidence on the exclusivity and the supremacy of King Jesus.
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By this time, we must realize what it is. When we're confused, when people are screaming from the top of their lungs about how
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Christ is not sufficient, how you have to turn to works, how you've got to look at yoga, how you've got to do quiet time meditation, how you need to depend more on your works.
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Paul is telling us to return to Christ and the central confession of the Christian church, which is that all things, particularly salvation, is found in Christ and that He is preeminent and He alone.
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That was point number 1. Point number 2, to not be a mentally disoriented Christian, it's right from that verse, walk in Christ.
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Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
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Succinctly, briefly, because Jesus Christ is Lord, walk in Him. Paul uses the term walk several times in this book.
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He uses it in each of the chapters at least two times. In Colossians 1, 9 and 10, he continues to say this, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the
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Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
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We don't speak in this manner today, but walks and paths were a common
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Jewish and biblical idiom. It was used to say that a person's lifestyle is pictured as a road that one travels along on.
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It's a road that one travels along on. So to the Colossian audience, the original audience of this book, they understood what it meant to walk in Christ.
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They understood it was a lifestyle. Now we see similar language used in wisdom literature, like Proverbs.
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For example, Proverbs chapter 2. Walk in the path of the just. Stay away from the road that leads to the adulterous woman.
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He's talking about a lifestyle here. Elsewhere, Paul and other
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New Testament writers urge believers to walk worthily.
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Philippians chapter 1 verse 27. Walk worthily of the gospel. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1.
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Walk worthily of their calling. 1 Thessalonians 2 .12.
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Walk worthily of God. But here in Colossians and in Colossians chapter 2 verse 6, continuing to keep with the theme of high
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Christology, Paul is urging believers to walk worthily of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is telling believers that since you are already in Him, continue in Him.
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Continue to believe in Him, trust in Him, focus on the preeminence and the supremacy of King Jesus.
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He talks about walking in Christ. And he tells us how. He uses four participles rooted, built up, established and abounding.
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What is important to note here is three out of those four participles are in the passive voice.
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What does that mean? It is the work of God. It is the work of a sovereign
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God. Who is that God? King Jesus, the preeminent one, the supreme one.
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So walking in Christ, primarily and above all things, in this verse and in this book, starts and continues in the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, what's the antidote to false teaching? What are the false teachers attacking?
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That while you can be saved in Christ and through Christ, you don't need Him to grow. And Paul, in the use of his language, is emphatically stating, right here and then, in the passive voice, that without Him you cannot grow.
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And he's about to explain that more with four participles. Verse seven, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding and thanksgiving.
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So these are the four things that explain what it means to walk in Christ, what it means to walk in Him.
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Again, what are they? Rooted, built up, established, abounding. Rooted is a horticultural word.
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Unless plants have strong roots, they can't grow. They wither away and they die.
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They cannot survive. Believers are implanted in Christ, the preeminent one, the supreme one.
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It is through Christ that the Father has forgiven them. It is
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Christ's righteousness that has been imputed to them. It's Christ's resurrection that has caused them to be made right with God Almighty.
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Christ is all sufficient for our salvation and our growth. We need nothing more. But Paul, more importantly, is stressing here that unless a person is rooted in Christ, he cannot grow.
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Unless he's firmly implanted in Christ, he cannot grow. He will wither away and die.
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The second way to walk in Christ, the second participle he uses here is built up. Rooted is a horticultural metaphor.
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Built up is a construction metaphor. Here it is not so much as build upon.
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In other parts of the New Testament, when this word is used, it's to build upon something. Once again in the book of Colossians, the
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Apostle Paul uses it differently. It's not so much as build upon as the process of building.
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The process of building. It is similar to John chapter 15 verses 4 and 5.
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This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. Abide in me and I in you.
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John chapter 15 verses 4 and 5. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the wine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
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I am the wine. You are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.
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For apart from me, you can do nothing. You can do nothing.
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How do we exemplify Christ Jesus as Lord? By being rooted in him and abiding in him.
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But look at the way Paul uses it here. The term root here is in the perfect tense.
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The term built up is used in the present tense. The former which is rooted is complete.
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It's done. It's in the perfect tense. It's completed. Built up is something that is still ongoing.
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It's an ongoing process. Started in Christ and continued in Christ.
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He's the source of it. He's the life of it. Without it, there is no process of being built up.
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Number three, how do we walk in Christ? Here's a third participle. Established in the faith.
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Firm or solidly grounded. Firm or solidly grounded. It's a sequence.
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If you look at the way it's being used. First, rooted. Second, built up.
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Third, established in the faith. It's a sequence. And as I mentioned before, all three of these are in the passive voice.
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Implying, it is the sovereign mighty work of God and not the work of man.
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The sovereign mighty work of God. God is the one who does the rooting and the building.
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God is the one who is continuing to build and He's the one who does the ongoing process of establishing.
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But as we look here, and as this is misinterpreted often, because the term faith is used, more often than not, you have people ask you the question, but faith is used here.
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So isn't this established on my faith? Isn't this my believing that helps me be established, that helps me grow?
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It is not. Here, not only is it used in the passive sense, it is not your believing or the believer's believing.
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It is the content, the object of the faith that is once again pointed to. And who's the object?
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Who's the source? We've been talking about Him this entire time. The Lord Jesus Christ. It is not our faith, but the object of our faith that causes us to be established.
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The preeminent one, the supreme one. Finally, we go to the fourth participle, abounding, overflowing with thanksgiving.
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But just before he gets there, he uses the term, as you were taught.
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Paul is reminding the Colossians about Epaphras' faithful ministry.
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He is reminding them that there are false teachers around them, that they should not listen to, but that they should remember and they should listen to Epaphras, who taught them about Christ, who gave them the gospel and reminded them and continues to remind them of His supremacy and His sufficiency.
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Thanksgiving is found in several verses in Colossians. Peter O 'Brien says that that's the secondary theme of this book, giving thanks.
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No surprise. He who understands the doctrine of Christ well, gives Him praise often, gives
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Him thanks in an abounding, overflowing, unlimited manner. While rooted, built up and established are clearly in the passive voice and the work of God.
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Here, the word giving thanks is in the active voice. There you go.
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There's your thing to do because we love things to do, don't we? So you want to do something from this verse? Here's what you can do.
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Be in awe, marvel at the gospel of Jesus Christ. Marvel at the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and the work that He's done.
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We are to walk in Christ with hearts of gratitude, with hearts overflowing with praise to Him.
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Paul uses the word many times. In chapter 1 verse 12, he says, giving thanks to the
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Father, being very specific into the roles of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in His indicatives.
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We should follow Paul's lead here. We should. He's rehearsing the supremacy and preeminence of Christ.
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He's rehearsing the mercy and goodness of the Lord. We should rehearse it too.
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We should remember the incalculable debt that was paid by the
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Savior. In chapter 2 verse 13, he says this.
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It's a verse that we should remember often. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
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God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.
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Verse 14. How? By canceling, wiping out the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.
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This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. The crucifixion and the cross of Jesus Christ is not sufficient for some of us, is it?
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When you talk to Jehovah's Witnesses, they just want to be told, what can I do? You dare not tell them what
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Christ did or His sufficiency, otherwise they will consider you as a cult member. For some of us, we love to hear about, okay, what can
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I do? How about the what has been done?
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How about the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ? How about the fact that to be rooted, to be established and to be built up are all works of Christ.
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And all we have to do, by the grace of God, is respond in thanksgiving.
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It is not our work. We don't grow apart from Him. If we look away from the word or away from the
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Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot grow. A fruitful
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Christian is a joyful Christian. He is in constant awe of the
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Savior. Now, if after hearing this message or if you've studied this passage before, or even if you heard today's message in the morning from Hebrews chapter 4, that is coming to God with confidence, coming to the throne of grace with confidence, and you're still struggling with joy and you still would much rather talk about other things in life rather than this, perhaps we should examine ourselves.
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If books like Colossians and verses like Colossians 2, 6 and 7 don't cause us to be in awe of the
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Savior, if we're still going out and searching for other things that we may think we need to grow in Christ, we really need to examine ourselves to see if we are in the
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Lord. We really do. The world is confused.
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The world is distracted. The world seems to be discombobulated, mentally disoriented when it comes to things about salvation and the
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Lord. And it seems that more and more professional Christians are doing the same thing.
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But we looked at two ways today how not to go in that direction, how not to be mentally disoriented.
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First, by recognizing that Jesus Christ is Lord, that the preeminent one who is supreme in all of creation, the image of the invisible
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God, the firstborn of all creation, the repository of all knowledge and wisdom, the mystery of God, the head of the body of the church, how
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He is sufficient. And that we, by the grace of God, by the grace of Christ, have entered into His Lordship.
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We are under Him. We are in Him. That was point one. And point two, we need to walk in Him.
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But we keep forgetting that to walk in Him means all about what we have done. It means to grow in Him doesn't mean we can do it by ourselves.
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We saw three things rooted, built up and established, all work of a holy God, all works of a holy
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Savior. And all we have to do according to Paul in chapter 2, verse 6 and 7, is give thanks, is give thanks.
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Now, you may think, okay, Linton, you have forgotten the... you've forgotten chapter 3, you've forgotten chapter 4.
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No, I haven't. We will eventually get there.
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In chapter 3, verse 18 to 4, one is the household code, right? Beginning with wives and husbands and children and employees and...
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not employees, sorry, masters and slaves. Before that, He talks about how we ought to behave in the church.
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So, yes, it's not that we just give thanks and don't do anything else. But before we get to those verses, we need to understand 6 and 7.
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We need to understand what it means to... who Christ Jesus is and what it means to be in Him.
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And primarily, we should start by giving thanks to Him, by being in awe of Him.
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If you're not, all the false teaching in the world will look attractive to you.
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And if you're not, wives will not be able to submit to their husbands. Husbands will not love their wives and will be harsh with them.
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Children will not be able to obey their parents. Parents will be harsh with their kids and will provoke them.
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Masters and slaves will continue to sin against each other in their relationship. But if we get it right and we rest in the finished work of Christ and we're established, found in Christ where salvation is and we grow by His grace, and those things will follow for the glory of God.
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We may never get it perfect and we probably never will till glory. But Christ's work is sufficient and in that we rest.
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Now most preachers when they get to Ephesians chapter 5 and Colossians 3, they pull it out of context and they make it all about ourselves, all about how
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I should think and how I should behave. And they pull Christ completely out of the context. If I do ever get to that in this church or even elsewhere,
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I would never start by just preaching Ephesians 5 out of Ephesians. It would start with 1, 2 and 3 and the gospel of Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of Christ and the preeminence of Christ.
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Because I'd rather talk about Him and His greatness than just jump to these verses and forget that these verses hinge on the gospel of Jesus Christ and on the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
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Paul is not confused. Neither should we be. Paul has no doubts in his mind about who
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Christ is and how he can grow. Neither should we. There may be a lot of noise out there.
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There may be a lot of people who call us names. But we proclaim Christ and Christ alone.
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And we can grow in Him and Him alone. If we look anywhere else and we look to any other gospel, we are accursed.
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We are accursed. Let's pray. Lord Jesus Christ, we thank
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You for Your Scripture. It is infallible. It is inerrant. And we understand it because of the
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Holy Spirit, the indwelling God. And we thank You for Your sacrificial work on the cross,
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Your life, Your death, Your resurrection, in which we continue to grow in, in which we continue to have hope in,
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Lord, which is the very identity of the church and who we are. May we stay focused on the preeminence of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ.
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Even when we fight our own sins, even when we look to help others in sin, may we point to You and You alone.
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And for those of us who are saved, Lord, may we go from here with a desire to be in awe of You, with a desire to give
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You praise and to give You thanks, to overflow with thanksgiving. And if there's anyone here who has not turned to You, would
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You save them for Your namesake, for Your purposes, according to Your will.