Continue in prayer

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Colossians 4:2-4

One of the blessings about this virus mess is that it has taught me more about prayer than any sermon I have preached I have heard or preached or conference I have been to or book I have read. Our prayers have changed from a generic bless this person or that person. There are lessons here that I think we all need to to take to heart in our prayer lives.

Pray earnestly for me, Paul says, be vigilant, be thankful. Pray for an open door while I am in chains.

That’s the kind of prayer we all need from us all.

It is easy to get lax in our prayers when everything is going well. It is when crises or hard times come that we tend to turn to God. I want to every day pray more earnestly, with more vigilance, and with more gratitude than ever before. My prayer in the context is not about stuff I need or want, but for others. I need to be praying for open doors for all of us to share the gospel.

Most of are still in ‘stay at home’ orders. We’ve never had so many opportunities to pray as right now.

Do your best

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…and whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ– Colossians 3.17;23-24

Whatever you do, God says. In word or deed or anything you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Whatever you do do it heartily as though you were doing it for the Lord.

That’s quite a challenge. It says that whatever we do we need to do in a way that Christ can be honoured. Our testimony demands on our always doing our very best.

My dad used to share with a piece of sage advice that a lot of dad’s shared in those days – if a job is worth is doing it is worth doing right.

That doesn’t sound like a very ‘’spiritual’ thing, but it is immensely important. The quality of what we do us a testimony to back up our words of testimony. People need to see us as people of action who do what we are supposed to do and do it rightly and with the best of our ability.

We need to be the best workers and students and husbands and wives and children and citizens and neighbours and friends and helpers and volunteers and whatever role play.

In reality it is the everyday stuff that makes the biggest difference. Whatever we find ourselves doing – do our best and do it for Jesus.

Let the word of Christ dwell

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.- Colossians 3.16

Above all put on love
Let the peace of God rule
Let the world of Christ dwell in you richly
Teach and admonish each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual  songs
Sing and make melody in your hearts

This last one says so much. The word of Christ must dwell in us. That means that the living Christ dwells in us and personally. Christ in us is our hope of glory.

But it also means that the word of Christ, the Bible, must dwell in us. We must be so full of it that it controls our lives and our words and our actions. As we let it dwell in us we find in it the wisdom we need to get through anything. Wisdom does not mean that we are going to know everything. We doesn’t mean we are going to be any smarter about this accursed virus. It doesn’t mean that we have the answers. It doesn’t make us experts on virology or prevention or the economy or politics.

It does mean that we have the wisdom – based on God’s word – to handle what comes our way. It means that we have the sound disciplined mind that God gave us in place of fear.

It’s the last part of this verse that gives me a longing – the part about teaching and admonishing each other is psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. That is one of the things I miss the most from church. It’s great that we have videos and Spotify and all that, but it is clear here that this is something thing church needs to be doing together. It can be lovely on your device screen – but there is nothing like joining our voices together whether it be a dozen of us or a thousand. ‘Singing together with grace in our hearts to the Lord’ as we gather together to encourage each other is song is something I long for.

O for that day when we can gather together again. I hope I never take it lightly again.

Let the peace of God rule

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3:15

Put on love, let the peace of God rule, let the word of God dwell.

What a wonderful trinity of lessons for us to guide us during these days. There is not much hope for peace in the news or on social media or anywhere else. A sense of hopelessness seems to be growing. Jobs, if they are there, are not stable. No one knows what the news is going to bring tonight. Schooling is doing its best to survive. Churches are not able to meet together. People are getting desperate for social interaction.

It surely does not seem like a time for peace and I am finding it difficult myself.

‘Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you are called in one body, and ne thankful.

That peace isn’t easy. We get some key elements here. We have one body to help and encourage each other. We are called in one body and that body needs to be united.

And be thankful. Now that’s where things can get tough even though Paul said the same thing to the Thessalonians when he said ‘Don’t be full of cares, but in everything my prayer and supplication with thanksgiving…and peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Learning to give thanks is the key to us having peace.

Put on

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Colossians 3:12-14

As we put off the old man we are told to put on the new man and then we are told how to do that. Just like with the put off there is a putting on.

The things we are told to put on here all relate to how we treat others.

Put on tender mercies
Put on kindness
Put in humility
Put on meekness
Put of long-suffering
Put up with each other
Put on forgiveness
But above all – put on love.


These are a challenge. They all go agains our natural inclination. All of these require that we we take the back seat and instead of seeking our own gratification and seek to please others.

And they can all be wrapped up in the last on the list – put on love. It is the bond of perfection. It is the super glue that holds it all together. Love allows us to forgive. Love allows us to put up with each other. Love allows us to be patient. Loves makes us meek and humble and kind and merciful. Love forgets about me and puts others first.

Love means I am so busy loving that I don’t have time to wallow in my misery. It is times like this that our love is most needed. As bad as things are they are made for God’s people.

They give us a chance to prove our love.

Put off

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Colossians 3:8-11

There is a whole list of things that we are told to put off as believers risen with Christ. These are some obvious things – anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, lying, and the like.

Then Paul summarises it with the words ‘put off the old man.  This part of the list is not about what we consider to be the gross and obvious sins to gratify the flesh. These actions all affect others around us.

This section tells us to put off things that affect how we feel about others and how we treat them. If I could parrowphrase this I would say something like ‘stop being such a jerk. Treat people with respect. Stop being so angry, stop using filthy language, stop lying. Watch your mouth.

There is no need for that kind of nonsense from believers. I think we get a hint of what Paul says that out the end of the verse. There were already divisions  because Paul says the reason we don’t talk like this is because we are all one in Christ. We can’t speak poorly of anyone because there is no longer Greek or Jew or those who keep the law and those who don’t or any other nationality or even slave or free because we are all one in Christ and there is no excuse to fight with any other believer – no matter what.

Kill coveting

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. Colossians 3:5-7

Though we are saved by God’s grace and can only live for Him by His grace there are are things that we have to do. In this case over the next few verses we have a list of things that we have to put off and that we have to put on.

The first list are things to put off. Most modern versions use the phrase something like ‘put to death, but I like the KJV use of ‘mortify’ certain things.

Most of these are obvious bad things – uncleanness, evil passions, fornication, and things like that.

But one word pops up here that at first glance doesn’t really seem to fit the rest of this.

What makes covetousness worthy of this terrible list?

We may not see it at first, but this particular sin says a lot about my character. It says, in reality, that I really am not satisfied with what gives me or where He has put me. I compare myself with others, usually those who are ‘better off’ than me and wonder why I can’t have what I have!

Covetousness is a sign that I am not trusting God. It is a mark of being discontent with what I have or where I am or maybe who I am. It means that I don’t think God is doing enough for me. It is complaining about God.

What a problem that is if that truly reflects my heart and is not just working thinking.

Covetous thoughts are something that I need to ‘mortify’ when they cross my mind. My selfish flesh and even Satan Himself delight in causing me to doubt or turn from God – and being full on envious desire is sure to do that.

Paul said that he had learned to be content no matter what came his way – he could do that because he had learned to put to death his selfish desires and learned to not compare what he had or didn’t have to others.

Lord help me to slay my covetous thoughts and attitudes.

When Christ appears

When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:4

What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
When I look upon His face
The One who saved me by His grace
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me to the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day that will be

What a great picture by the hymn writer Jim Hill.

I think most of us feel like we have had about enough of this tired old world and its heartaches and pains and sorrows and disappointments. Right now this virus is getting a bit wearisome and tiring.

It can seem like this is just another thing with all that is already going on with all the troubles in this broken old world. This broken world is not going to fix itself. Is just going to get worse and worse.

But one day, one glorious day, the same day that John looked forward to at the end of Revelation – Jesus will appear to take us home.

You are dead

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. – Colossians 3.3

You are dead. That’s a bit morbid sounding, isn’t it?

I am dead – really?

Well, that’s how Paul puts it both here and back in Romans 6. When we accepted Christ, our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.

Because our old man is dead we no longer are captive to sin. Our sin is no longer what defines us. My life is now hidden in Christ’s life.

Now that’s really pretty challenging. It brings up something we might not like to think about. Who is to blame when I sin?

It’s easy to say things like ‘I can’t help it’ or ‘that’s just the way I am’ or ‘I was just born with a temper, it’s a family trait’ or ‘that’s just my Irish temper.’

It would be great if we could just carry on and blame it on who we were or blame it on the old man or that kind of thing. But here we read that the old me is dead. I am crucified with Christ. I am a new creation.

And here – my life is hid with Christ life. The brutal truth is that when I sin I sin. It is my decision. I always have a choice. The problem is though that even though I am a new creation and the old man is crucified I still have to live in a flesh that demands my attention. But I also have Christ in me.

My option – I can walk after the flesh or I can walk after the spirit. I can only walk after the Spirit as I rely in Christ in me and recognise that sin does not have any power of me.

Christ in me is my only hope.

Seek things above

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. – Colossians 3.1

Since we are risen with Christ there are certain things that should mark our lives. On Easter last Sunday I preached from Romans 6 about this risen life. I wish I had thought to stretch out into this marvellous on being risen with Christ because it talks about a whole change of mindset. This verse tells us what to do with our minds if we are truly risen with Christ.

Maybe that’s what God has for us to learn during this crisis. All that we have set our affections on have been taken away for a time. There are no sports, no entertainment events, no parties, no gatherings. All the props have been taken away. All the things that have taken the place of God in our lives are suddenly gone.

Maybe, just maybe, this is a chance for God’s people to stop setting our affections on things here on earth and instead to set our affection on things above. Not all of the things we used to do are bad. There is nothing wrong with going to a rugby match or a good, family film, or things like that. That is, only if that kind of things does not become our focus.

They question for us to ask daily though it where are our minds focused. Do I focus on all the bad news here on earth? The only way to overcome all that is to set our minds and our attention and our focus an hearts on things above.

There is not such thing as ‘so heavenly minded you are of no earthly good.’ If we are truly heavenly minded we will be of the most earthly good.

The doctrine of men

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. – Colossians 2.20-23

Sign, sign
Everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery
Breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?

Does anybody remember that song? The part that sticks out in my mind is the ‘do this, don’t do that because reminds me of the ‘touch not, taste, not, handle not’ from this passage.

It is sad, no, it is tragic, that for so many people their Christian living in not much more than ‘do this’ don’t do that.’

I’ve been part of churches that operated with a ticklist mentality of spirituality. At the ned of the day if you ticked all the boxes you were fine. If you listened to the right music and cut your hair right wore the right clothes and went to the right place it was grand. The ‘do thisers’ and don’t do thaters’ robbed too many people of living in the light of God’s grace. Too many times we have been led to please men instead of pleasing God.

God’s way is not to tick off boxes on a list. If we truly love God we don’t need a daily list of things to do and not do. God’s way is to live in the light of His grace and strive to please the One we claim to love.

How burdensome can that really be?

Don't let them judge you

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. – Colossians 2.16-17

People are terribly quick to judge and Christians may be among to worst about it. We find all kinds of reasons to judge and condemn each other for almost anything. I think especially of things like holidays since that is what Paul seems to have in mind in this context.

It reminds me of what Paul wrote in Romans 14:

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. Romans 14:5-6

We need to be in the word of God. We need to measure our lives according to His standards. We need to make sure we are using our liberty to love each other. We need to make sure that our actions won’t cause a brother to stumble. We need to make sure our hearts are right.

But we don’t need to let others judge us by their human standards. We can’t let our liberty be a chance to serve the flesh, but we can’t let others rob us of the grace of God in our lives.

Nailed to the cross

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. - Colossians 2.14-15

My sin, O the bliss, my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.

Those are the words of a stanza from what is probably my favourite hymn; ‘It is Well with My Soul.’ I have a plaque in my office given to me by the youth group at the first ministry we served in here. It has the words to this hymn and at the bottom it has this verse.

If I think about the list of all my sins on paper I am afraid it would be quite a tome. It would go on and on and on page after page after page after page.

That’s kind of discouraging, isn’t it?

But no – not so much. Just about a week ago we celebrated Easter and we rejoiced in the fact that when Jesus went to the cross he bore my sins, became my sin, and nailed that terrible list to the cross so I need bear it no more.

Can you see why this is my favourite verse of my favourite hymn. My sin, all of it, every last sin, O the bliss and joy of this amazing and glorious thought, my sin, mine, is nailed to the cross, andI bear it now more because Jesus bore it for me!

Indeed, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!!

Complete in Thee

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: - Colossians 2.9-10

Complete in Jesus. What a thought. Sometimes I am better of letting some one else express the words that I would say in my heart. Today is one of those days so instead of me trying I am just going to give the words of hymnist Ben Iverson. Enjoy and be blessed.

Complete in Thee,
No work of mine
Could take, dear Lord,
The place of Thine.
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I shall stand
Complete in Thee.

Yea, justified, oh, blessed thought,
And sanctified, salvation wrought.
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified I, too, shall be.

Complete in Thee,
Each want supplied,
And no good thing
To me denied.
Since Thou my portion, Lord, will be,
I ask no more,
Complete in Thee.

Yea, justified, oh, blessed thought,
And sanctified, salvation wrought.
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified I, too, shall be.
Complete in Thee,

No more shall sin
Thy grace has conquered
Reign within.
Thy blood shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand
Complete in Thee.

Yea, justified, oh, blessed thought,
And sanctified, salvation wrought.
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified I, too, shall be.
Dear Saviour, when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among the chosen I shall be
At thy right hand,

Complete in Thee.
Yea, justified, oh, blessed thought,
And sanctified, salvation wrought.
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified I, too, shall be.
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified I, too, shall be.

Not after Christ

Beware 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.- Colossians 2.8

There are a lot of things we need to be aware of in this Christian life. There are all kinds of dangers out there. There are all kinds of false teachings and their false teachers to push it.

One of the most damaging false teachings out there is any teaching that tries to get us to conform to the traditions of men instead of the truth that is according to Christ. Man’s own philosophy and man’s vain deceit wants us to believe that we must conform to their ways and their traditions. I spent a lot of years trying to conform to what men expected of me and far to often the things I did were not of Christ, but were after the traditions of men.

I fear that my actions have done great harm. I have passed on those traditions to others. As years, too many, went by, I realised how often I had focused on man’s rules and human standards that I was missing the joy of living in God’s grace.

There are two ways we can respond to that realisation. One way is just to reject everything with a mindset that ‘I have the liberty to do whatever I want’ and use that liberty to do all the things I did not do out of fear of how man might respond and develop and ‘in your face’ attitude toward legalist.

But I can’t help but remember ‘For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.’

I am not bound by men’s rules. I am free. But I need to use my liberty to build up and not tear down.

Abounding

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. – Colossians 2.6-7

It is not enough to ‘just be saved’ as good as that is. That’s only the beginning.

Since you have received Jesus Christ as Saviour it is only natural that you should walk in Him. With your roots planted deep in Him, being established in the faith, and having been taught great truth, you ought to be abounding with thanksgiving.

Our roots must be sunk deep in Jesus. Like the tree planted by the rivers of water in Psalm 1 we have the ability to stand amongst the storms.

That says a lot, doesn’t it?

Following on is that we need to be established in the faith. The faith is a faith which is taught. That shows us the importance of solid Bible teaching. Rooted in Christ we get established in the word of God as we are taught.

Then we are supposed to be abounding with thanksgiving. Abounding is a wonderful word. Overflowing is another English word we could use here.

We are missing so much if we are happy to have our roots deep and be firmly established. Those are wonderful things, but if we are missing the abounding wea re missing the blessing that Abba Father wants us to have.

Alone - but not apart

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, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. – Colossians 2.4-5

If there ever was an appropriate time for this verse it is now. ‘I am absent from you, but I don’t want you to be the trickery of false teachers, but I am with you spirit and joy as I watch you be steadfast.’

That sure suits us now as so many of us are isolated from each other. We can’t meet for church meetings, we can’t even really visit each other. We can barely have any contact. Everything is done online and through Facebook and Zoom and Teams. That’s fine, but it not being there.

Paul says it perfectly. There are a lot of people I can’t be with in the flesh now. It breaks my heart that I can’t see them. I long to see them.

With Paul’s words of encouragement, we can be assured that even is are not physically present we can be present in Spirit.

Now that’s pretty easy to say, the doing is much harder. With Facebook, and WhatsApp, and Zoom and such we have no excuse to not be there in Spirit. A chat or a video call is just a click away. Being there in Spirit is not just a trite phrase that sounds spiritual. It means our hearts and souls and minds are still knit together in love even while we are apart.

Yes, we may be apart for a while – but we need not be apart.

Knit together

That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; - Colossians 2.2

Paul writes with a lot of love for the believers. You can sense it in words he writes. He was concerned with them while he was away from them. He knew they were going through tough times and so he prayed that they would be comforted and that their they would be knit together in love.

In these Covid days we are all looking for a little bit of comfort from all the bad news and all the troubles. No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to shake the ‘what ifs’ and ‘how’s.’

The best source of comfort in this days are those with whom our hearts are knit  together in love.

As our hearts are knit together the love that we are always ready to offer each other a word of comfort to get through the trials we face. We need to know that there is someplace to find comfort.

We have each other. Our hearts are knit together by the love the Christ. Let our lives lead us to give each other comfort in these generally comfortless days. 

We preach Him

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. – Colossians 1.28-29

On this Resurrection Sunday morning we celebrate to miracle of victory over death. We celebrate Jesus. We remember Jesus. We, hopefully, preach Jesus.

It is terribly sad to see what is preached from some pulpits. Men preach politics and personalities and their own agendas. The preach man’s standards instead of preaching Jesus, but it is Jesus we must preach. We don’t have to preach our own agendas or to make a point or anything else. We preach Jesus and how He realities to all of our lives.

We must preach Him from our pulpits (or now from our computers). We must preach Him to our friends and neighbours and our family. We must preach Him to those we come in contact with. We warn and teach every man with a focus on Jesus.

Easter is the perfect time to be reminded that we preach Jesus. Jesus is risen. He has crushed death to death. When He conquered death He provided life to a world lost in sin. The resurrected Christ sets a pattern for us to live a resurrected life.

He is risen. Let’s preach about Him.

Holy, blameles, above reproach

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Colossians 1:21-23

Holy, blameless, above reproach.

Those sound like pretty noble goals for the Christian. They are goals that none of could possibly hope to achieve. Naturally I am unholy, blameful, and certainly not above reproach.

We were all alienated from God. We were enemies of Him, but we have been reconciled to Him. We must be stedfast and growing. How then do we achieve this holiness and blamelessness and how are we above reproach?

Its not that we don’t have the power. Christ has already declared us holy in His holiness. He has died to our sins and made us blameless as His blood covers us. There is nothing that can be pinned on me to keep me out of heaven because I have all those things in Him.

But daily I rely on the grace of God to allow me to walk in holiness, to be blameless in my behaviour, and to live such a life that never bring reproach on Jesus. That means that while I rely on Him I still must make choices that honour Him. My life is a reflection of Him to the people I meet. Do they see a holy, blameless, above reporach Jesus in my life?

Reconciled

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. – Colossians 1.19-20

When Adam and Eve sinned it created a vast chasm between God and His creation and between God and mankind. The great fellowship between God and Adam and Eve was broken so badly that they tried to hide from God. Everyone born since there has sensed that gulf because we are all born with eternity in our hearts. So many has tried in every culture to fill that gap and return to God.

The problem is that the gap is so wide that none of man’s devices can span it. Man would never ever be able to even begin to initiate a reconciliation between us. God had to be the one to reach out to us. All of man’s attempts to reach deity through any religious means have failed. People have tried good works and sacrifices and self deprivation and even things like self abuse and human sacrifices to placate some view of god – but those all fail.

Only God can reconcile – and praise Him He has provided a way. He provided a way through the death of His son on the cross to pay the penalty that we never could and the gap was bridged. Now our reconciliation is a free gift for all who will accpet it.

Preeminence

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. – Colossians 1.18

Jesus is the head of the body, His church. He is the beginning of all. He is the firstborn from the dead.

So, in all things He must have the preeminence.

This causes me to ask myself ‘what things have the preeminence in my life?’ What are the most important things to me?

There are certainly plenty of things that strive for first place. Wealth and pride and popularity and even just plain stuff can demand our attention and call out for primacy.

There is only one though that deserves preeminence. Jesus deserves first place in everything. He must have first place in every decision I make. He must have first place on the words I speak. He must have first place in how I spend my money. He must have first place in where I go and how and deal with people and my responses to challenges and everything else I do.

One day He will have preeminence over all – I can give Him that in my life now.

All things consist

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. – Colossians 1.17

Not only is Jesus the creator of all things, but the marvellous thing is that He didn’t just create and then step away. He continues to sustain us day by day.

Because of Jesus the sun rises and falls, the water cycle continues to cycle, The seasons come and go, our hearts beat and our lungs breath. Something has to keep it all going. Because of Jesus life goes on. Even during world wide pandemics the swans are nesting, flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and the sun is shining (even if its behind the clouds).

Because he holds all things together and sustains us we have faith that He is still there. He isn’t, as deism claims, a great clockmaker who created the universe, would it up, and stepped away.

We live and breath and have our being by the mercy of God. While great this n virus is with us we must remember that God is stronger that the virus and He will sustain the world though it. That doesn’t mean that we are all going to miss it. That doesn’t mean that the coming economic collapse is not going to affect us. It does mean that God is here and that He can hold things together.

Thank God His day to day sustaining power.

All things created

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: - Colossians 1.15-16

Jesus Christ, the physical image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation. By Him everything was made – in heaven and earth…all created by Him and for Him.

There is a lot to say there, but I want to focus on one particular aspect; Jesus role as creator of all things.

I don’t talk much about the creation/evolution debate. I am probably wrong to focus on it so little because creation is so vital to all the rest of the word of God. If Jesus is not the Creator God then nothing else is real. It is all contingent on His creation.

Why? Because if all this just happened there would be no accountability and we would all just act like animals. If there is no creation then mankind has not more value than ants. No wonder groups are out there who are willing to sacrifice man for the good of the world.

But Jesus created the world and all that is in it. He made all things but He made man and woman in His own image. We are not the same as ants and grass and mosquitos.We are His creation and we are accountable to Him. Since He created Adam and Eve and they sinned that sin nature was passed on to all men. If not for creation no man would be accountable to anyone and chaos would ensue.

If we deny the Creation we deny that man is a sinner. We are indeed no better that the animals, or indeed that the plants. We are special because God made us and set us apart from everything else.

The forgiveness of sins

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: - Colossians 1.13-14

Delivered from the power of darkness
Transported into the kingdom of His dear Son
Redemption through His blood
The forgiveness of sin

Wow! That’s like an entire soteriology lesson there in four lines. It is a true lesson in the doctrine of salvation. This is quite an amazing truth. How could we, full of sin,  be reconciled to the perfect holy God? How can that great gap be spanned?

At our best all of our righteousness works are no better than filthy rags. Paul calls his  righteous nothing but dung. Our sin nature is not compatible with a holy God. Man knows that – God put eternity in our hearts – so all though time man has tried to find a way to placate his concept of deity.

The problem is that there is only one way to have the sins we all know we are guilty of forgiven. The good news that it is the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.

It is the forgiveness of my sins that lets me have hope.

Inheritance

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. - Colossians 1:9-12

The whole notion of an inheritance is kind of exciting – unless someone you love has to die to leave it. I had an inheritance one time that came from my mother’s second cousin. He was quite wealthy and us six children would split my mom’s share when it was all said and done. As time went by and the list of beneficiaries grew it cam out that I was going to get 1/104 of his estate. Then, lawyers cost and legal fees frittered away more and more. I did get a little bit of money, but it was kind of disappointing.

But we have a promised inheritance from God that is mind boggling. We share fully in the inheritance of Christ. That means that everything that is Christ’s I have a part in. Eternity, holiness, being in the presence, is all mine. My inheritance cannot be frittered away. It is secured by God. He is kept for me in heaven. It does not fade away. It is pure and undefiled.

That should give us great comfort to get through these times. I can know that no matter what happens here my eternity is secure. Whatever I may lose here I won’t lose any of my eternal blessings.

Praise God for the security of my eternal inheritance. One day this will be worth it all. I’m not only going to get 1/104th of it frittered away. Jesus is going to let me share in it all.

Pleasing Him

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. - Colossians 1:9-12

That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful

Those are wonderful goals to seek. I want to kind of focus though on those words ‘fully pleasing God.’

It is only natural that we seek to please those we love. It only makes sense that we part of true love is the desire to please.

I love me. I have no problem doing things that please me.

I remember way back to when Mary and I first started dated in Christian college. She has always been the sweetest thing – that was part of the charm that won me over, Our school served meals family style with 8 students to a table. At breakfast they put a bowl of those small boxes of cereal in the middle of the table. Back then I loved Kellogg’s Sugar Pops. I was working as well as going to school so Mary would get to breakfast early and grab of box of Sugar Pops and put it in my cereal bowl so I would ave them. That gave me a great little pleasure and that still pleases me today.

That’s what we do for those we love. If we love God our desire ought to be to please Him. We please Him when we walk worthy of Him and we bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We please Him when we obey Him. We please Him when we love Him and love others.

May my life please Him, especially in days like this.

Knowledge

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. - Colossians 1:9-12

Paul normally started his letters with blessings and encouragements and by reminding the churches that he was praying for them. Each greeting is worth the time is takes to stop and see if there are things that we need in our lives.

One of the things he prays is that the Colossians would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will with wisdom and understanding.

It can be hard to know how to handle times like this. There is a lot of need for wisdom to know what to say and how to act. It takes divine understanding to figure out what to do next. We need all of the knowledge of who our God is and how He wants to respond and to act in days like we are in. We want to do right by God more than anything else. We can’t do that if we don’t know Him.

As we face an uncertain tomorrow may God give us the knowledge of His wisdom to see Him at work and look for His perfect will. There are certain things that we know are God’s will. We know we ought to seek the mind of Christ in all of our decisions. We know God does not want us to be afraid. We know that God wants us to focus on heavenly things. We know God wants us to love Him and love others.

But we only know these things as we know Him as He reveals Himself in His word.

The fruitful word

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. - Colossians 1:3-8

Paul rejoiced that the word of God had not only come to the Colossians, but that it was doing far more in their lives. The word of God was bearing fruit through them to the people around them

It is great when we know and study God’s word and apply it to our lives. Without that we could not do anything else with His word. It can’t stop there though because God’s desire is that His word bear fruit in the world around us.

How does God’s word bear fruit. I think it is simple enough – it bears fruit as it is seen in the lives and those who live by it. The kind of fruit that the word of God bears is obvious – love and peace and goodness and gentleness and meekness and the like.

People are looking for something different in times of trouble. In a world full of anxiety and despair and uncertainty we have something more to offer. It is the fruit of God’s word working in our lives. We can offer faith and hope and love to a whole world of people anxious about what is coming next.

The ‘problem’ is that we need to be in the word to pick the fruit of His word. If we are not there how can we bear the fruit. If you want to give out apples you need to go to an apple orchard or to a shop that sells apples. If you want to give out faith and love and hope you have to go to the place that offers true faith and true hope and true love.

The only place to find that is in the Word.

How fruitful is God’s word in your and in my lives?  

Faith and hope and love

We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. - Colossians 1:3-8

Faith, love, and hope. These are the character of the church at Philippi that stick out from the very start. The faith, love, and hope of the Colossians were well known and spoken of it the region,

It is interesting that these are the three things that Paul wrote to the Corinthians – and now abideth faith, hope, and love.

I heard a podcast recently about how the the church should be examples of faith and love and hope to the world around us. Faith and hope and love are things that everyone is looking for today. As we all go through this crisis together we find a world that is craving faith in something, sone kind of hope for the future, and to see love being acted out.

The world needs to see our faith in Christ and our faithful behaviour. They need to see that we have an unshakeable hope that will last for all eternity. They need to see the love will always, always endure.

Our faith and our hope and our love are going to make all the difference in world and for the world and to the world. Crises can shake our faith and make us doubt our hope and fears for ourselves can rob our love.

May you and I ever manifest faith and hope and love to a world that needs it so much today.