A Great Struggle
Notes
Transcript
I. THE STRUGGLE OF A GREAT HEART
I. THE STRUGGLE OF A GREAT HEART
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
Preaching the Word: Colossians and Philemon—The Supremacy of Christ The Intensity of Paul’s Concern (v. L)
Enlarged hearts always know the agon. They have sleepless nights; they empathize; they struggle in prayer. But these big hearts also know the most joy. It is this kind of heart to which all of us are called, whether we are missionaries or merchants: a heart that is willing to agonize not only over our own little circle, but the Church Universal.
II. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STRUGGLE?
II. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STRUGGLE?
Colossians 2:2 (NIV) — 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,
What you think of Christ, your conception of him, is everything. If you believe in Jesus Christ, that he is eternal, without beginning and without end, that he always was continuing; if you believe that he is creator of everything, every cosmic speck across trillions of light-years of trackless space, the creator of the textures and shapes and colors which daily dazzle your eyes; if you believe that he is the sustainer of all creation, the force which is presently holding the atoms of your body, your town, this universe together, and that without him all would dissolve; if you believe that he is the mystery, the incarnate reconciler who will one day reconcile the universe and redeem humanity to himself; if you believe that he is the lover of your soul, who loves you with a love bounded only by his infinitude; then, despite the fact that life will be full of trouble, nothing much will go wrong. Your vision of Christ will quicken and shape your life. What you believe about Christ makes all the difference in the world now and in eternity.
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Colossians and Philemon: the supremacy of Christ (p. 54). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.
Preaching the Word: Colossians and Philemon—The Supremacy of Christ The Heart of Paul’s Concern (vv. 2, 3)
F. F. Bruce comments: “Paul emphasizes that the revelation of God cannot be properly known apart from the cultivation of brotherly love within the Christian community.”5
The late Francis Schaeffer called the unity of the church “the final apologetic” to the watching world (The Mark of the Christian [Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1970], p. 15). He went on to write, ‘In John 13 the point was that, if an individual Christian does not show love toward other true Christians, the world has a right to judge that he is not a Christian. Here [in John 17:21] Jesus is stating something else which is much more cutting, much more profound: We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus’ claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians. Now that is frightening. Should we not feel some emotion at this point?’ (The Mark of the Christian, p. 15) MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1992). Colossians (p. 88). Chicago: Moody Press.
III. WHY KNOWING JESUS RIGHTLY IS IMPORTANT
III. WHY KNOWING JESUS RIGHTLY IS IMPORTANT
4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
Colossians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Settled in Understanding
The basic attack of all false systems throughout history has been to deny either Christ’s deity, His sufficiency to save and sanctify, or both. Any group or person doing so is guilty of teaching “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). As purveyors of another gospel, they are accursed (Gal. 1:8). Believers need to have a settled conviction about Christ’s deity and sufficiency to be able to withstand the onslaughts of such false teaching.