Trusting in Christ (05/07/2009)

This evening we continue our series in Colossians from where we left off last year under the heading ‘Trusting in Christ’. And ‘in Christ’ is a major theme of this letter as well as of this passage. Back in chapter one, we learn of the Colossians’ faith in Christ (v4), of the faith and love they have and that we can have from being in Christ, that in Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (v14), that literally we “who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (v21-22). Isn’t that amazing! We are rescued by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We also learn of the supremacy of Christ, that literally (v16) in him all things were created, that (v17) in him all things hold together and (v19) in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He is God. Here in chapter 2 verse 3 Paul says that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He’s encouraged therefore at how firm their faith in Christ is (v5). As someone once said, ‘Christianity is Christ’. That is very clear in Colossians. And so we need to be in Christ alone and therefore trusting in Christ alone, in his work on the cross and continue to do so. You see God’s reconciliation of the Colossians and us through the costly death of his Son on the cross had as its aim their and our preparation for the final day when Jesus returns when they and we, if we’re trusting in Christ, will stand before him – to present us holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. And so Paul says to the Colossians and by extension to us (1:23) “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” You see continuing in the faith shows how real that faith is. So if it’s true that those who are genuinely in Christ will persevere to the end, then it’s equally true that they must persevere to the end. Like a building set on a sure foundation and erected with strong supports, we are to remain true to the gospel and not shift from the fixed ground of our Christian hope in Christ. We are to trust in Christ, remain in Christ, grow in Christ and mature in Christ alone becoming more like Christ. And that is God’s aim for us all (Ro 8:29) and it was Paul’s aim for everyone too, which is my first heading.

1. Paul’s aim for everyone
If you’re trusting in Christ what is your aim for those God has put you amongst? And can I say there are opportunities to proclaim Christ today with a recent survey showing that 75% of UK households still own a Bible but don’t know or understand what’s in it. If you’re a Christian leader or involved in Christian ministry what is your aim for all those you lead or minister to under God? Do you have an aim? As someone has said, “Those who aim at nothing will hit nothing!” The Apostle Paul had an aim. His aim in proclaiming Christ, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, with the whole counsel of God, was to present who – just Epaphras (who had established the church at Colosse) and his other co-workers mature in Christ? No his aim was to present everyone perfect or mature in Christ. Have a look at chapter 1:28-29:

²⁸We proclaim him [that is Christ], admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect [mature] in Christ. ²⁹To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Paul knew that his responsibility wasn’t finished with helping people to turn to Christ as Saviour and Lord. He was and we are called to make disciples not just converts and to teach them to obey everything Christ has commanded. His aim was to present everyone mature in Christ on the final day when the quality of his ministry would be tested. So his concern was for well established, settled congregations, strong in faith and growing in every way. And that word settled (orderly, firm in faith) is interesting. One of the commentators at Wimbledon was saying the tennis players who are ‘settled’ are more stable and more mature, such as Federer and Roddick. Apparently Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, likes his players to be married as he says that they are then more settled, stable, mature, less prone to late night partying and therefore more focused and have a greater longevity. And on the final day of the football season his hard work and struggle, sadly for many of us, often results in success. His management is tested so to speak and shows that he literally built with much silver and gold! We’ll see how he gets on with Michael Owen!

Surely we too desire to see those around us come to trust in Christ and then to mature in Christ, to become settled or established in the faith, which, of course, doesn’t mean you have to be married but in Christ and looking to him for strength, wisdom and growth. The quality of our ministry will be tested too on that final day. Will we be shown to have built with hay and straw or with silver and gold as Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 3? Will we have built with Christ and his word or with man made materials? It’s why I’m passionate about people taking Christianity Explored and then Discipleship Explored, helping them to trust Christ, to start to read the Bible and pray, to become part of the fellowship here, encouraging them into a starter Home Group or another small group and into appropriate ministry. It’s one way of proclaiming Christ and admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom. And of course it doesn’t stop with a starter Home Group and ultimately it’s God’s work. And what God starts he finishes. Last month one mega church leader said this, “Why have we seen 1,200 people baptised this past month? Well God looks for the warmest incubator he can find. Why us? We were ready for them. We had a process, a system to bring them to maturity. We were ready for them. God doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance.” Are we ready for them? Am I? Are you? We need to be if we’re to grow under God to 5000. Are you ready to be involved? I know some of you are busy and some of you probably need a holiday, but are we busy with what’s going to last for eternity?

And note again that Paul says everyone. He wants everyone to come to maturity in Christ. He doesn’t say only those with leadership potential or only those with a degree. In fact in the original Paul writes everyone or ‘each one’ three times. He emphasises that Christian teaching is for all and not for some spiritual elite and that Christian ministry involves the individual care of souls. That’s one reason why appropriate teaching and training we can offer must be available to all and not just to a few. It’s why appropriate teaching and training here at JPC should be available in the evenings as well as on Sundays and during the day and eventually by video on the internet. So that everyone can benefit and be helped to mature in Christ. And we must also be encouraging and building each other up individually. A church must grow larger and smaller at the same time. And all this takes hard work, effort and struggles. Indeed the word ‘labour’ speaks of intense effort. The word for struggling was sometimes used of fights and athletic contests. Helping people to maturity is not easy. But the strength for this effort comes from above. God was powerfully at work in Paul as he toiled energetically and we too are to labour and struggle, not in our own strength, but with all God’s energy which is so powerful and works in us as we do his will – v29 again:

To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

I know these two verses are David Holloway’s life verses. They are two of mine too. If you’re in any kind of Christian leadership or involved in Christian ministry they’re important for you too. Paul often worked day and night to get the gospel out – to proclaim Christ as Lord, to admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom. And although we’re not the Apostle Paul we all (especially if we have any kind of leadership or teaching role) should want to help to present everyone mature in Christ. To this end we should all labour (including prayer), struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in those who willing to serve him. In v1 of chapter 2 Paul wants the church at Colosse and Laodicea to know how much he’s struggling for them even though he’s never met them personally. How much then should we do the same for those we do know and for those we pray for through contact with our mission partners? All of which brings us to my second heading. So secondly:

2) Paul’s purpose (especially for all who’ve not met him personally)
What is Paul’s purpose, especially for all those he hasn’t met? 2:1-3:

¹[For (showing that verses are connected with at least the previous two)] I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. ²My purpose 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, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

His purpose in vv1-3 is that their lives and their life together might be strengthened in Christ, that they may go on trusting in Christ alone, and know Christ, in whom are stored up all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, so that (v4) they would not be taken in by any false teaching however plausible. He therefore wants them to be encouraged in heart and united in love. Otherwise they might be tempted to give up or give in to spurious teaching. And we need encouragement, don’t we, to keep going in these days when we all face difficulties and pressures, to stand firm together in Christ, in the love of Christ, in the very foundation of the Christian life and so in love and truth. When was the last time some of us encouraged someone in their faith in Christ? Can I encourage us to do so? When was the last time some of us prayed for someone in this fellowship outside of a group meeting? Can I encourage us to do so? And without love we are nothing. If we’re going to grow, mature and stand firm in Christ both individually and as a church we need to be encouraged in heart and united in love. Why? Well look at vv2&3 again:

²…So that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

So that they might have the full riches of complete understanding. What does Paul mean? Well they come from being in Christ and united in Christ and they consist of an informed conviction which results from insight, ie the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. Then they will know Christ better – the mystery of God. No doubt some at Colosse claimed exclusive access to the mysteries of God’s truth, but Paul insists that Christ is God’s mystery, and all understanding is to be found in him, which he emphasises in v3, where hidden doesn’t mean concealed but rather stored up. So Christ is the ultimate storehouse of divine wisdom and spiritual knowledge. And we’re to look to him as the only place where these treasures are available. To search for other sources of such knowledge apart from Christ is useless. Why does Paul tell them this? Well that brings me to my third and final heading. So thirdly:

3) Paul’s warning and joy (vv4-5)

⁴I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. ⁵For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

Paul tells his readers this so that they and we won’t be deceived or deluded by what appears to be reasonable or even wise from teachers who seem very persuasive. As Paul warns in Acts 20, these teachers can so often come from within the church both local and wider as wolves in sheep’s clothing, even from evangelical backgrounds. Some today deny the power of the cross of Christ by denying penal substitutionary atonement while still appearing to preach powerfully the love of God. They can appear to believe the Bible but actually they subtract from it. Others add to the Bible and say, as the false teachers were probably saying at Colosse, that mere Christianity is not enough, that there is a fuller experience, a greater liberation. So we too need to heed this warning in an age when the arts of persuasion, and the means by which they can be exercised, are so highly developed.

Yet despite the dangers and threats which faced the church at Colosse and which still face the church today there is much to rejoice over both then in the Colossian church and now here at JPC. Paul delights in the well ordered Christian behaviour of the community, along with the firmness of their dynamic faith in Christ alone. Despite the enticements and fine sounding arguments of the false teachers these Christians were standing firm in Christ, in orderly unbroken ranks. How we need to do the same today. And I thank God for how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is, for the unity we have in Christ, for the unbroken ranks we are a part of as we stand firm in and for Christ and his word against the enemy. And we must to continue to be on guard and learn to distinguish the true from the false as we grow and mature in Christ. We’re to watch our life and doctrine. Martin Luther once said that normally the gospel only remains in one place for about 30 years. This church started well 148 years ago but it relatively quickly became infected with Freemasonry, a group with secret mysteries and false wisdom and knowledge about God, which led to its decline until 1960. And it’s interesting that the church at Laodicea to whom this letter is also addressed becomes spiritually blind, bankrupt, naked and lukewarm only a few years later. Jesus says to that church in Revelation 3:14-22 that he will spit them out of his mouth. Paul’s warning is real and must not be taken lightly. Who needs to repent and trust in Christ alone today? Maybe you’re caught up in Freemasonry. Why not turn to and trust in Christ alone? In Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And if we’re trusting in Christ alone then we’re complete in Christ. We are to encourage one another in this and be joyful. All God’s fullness is in Christ alone and only through his complete work are we set free. That’s the message of Colossians.

I must conclude. As I do so, let me underscore the obvious and perhaps the less obvious when it comes to the secret of unity and of helping others to come to trust in Christ and to mature in Christ from this section of Colossians. And this is so relevant on the eve of the UK launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. Obviously, if less than the Christ of chapter one verses 15-20 is believed then there’ll be no gospel to preach, no good news to offer. What is not quite so obvious, but is equally important, is that the united front so essential for convincing evangelism will be threatened when there are those teaching more than this Christ. We need to take very seriously Paul’s claim that all our spiritual treasures are found in Christ alone if the powerful witness of a band of Christian churches is to be exercised in the world.

Trusting in Christ	05/07/2009 at 6.30pm
Colossians 2	Jesmond Parish Church

A sermon preached by Jonathan Redfearn
This evening we continue our series in Colossians from where we left off last year under the heading ‘Trusting in Christ’. And ‘in Christ’ is a major theme of this letter as well as of this passage. Back in chapter one, we learn of the Colossians’ faith in Christ (v4), of the faith and love they have and that we can have from being in Christ, that in Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (v14), that literally we “who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (v21-22). Isn’t that amazing! We are rescued by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We also learn of the supremacy of Christ, that literally (v16) in him all things were created, that (v17) in him all things hold together and (v19) in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. He is God. Here in chapter 2 verse 3 Paul says that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He’s encouraged therefore at how firm their faith in Christ is (v5). As someone once said, ‘Christianity is Christ’. That is very clear in Colossians. And so we need to be in Christ alone and therefore trusting in Christ alone, in his work on the cross and continue to do so. You see God’s reconciliation of the Colossians and us through the costly death of his Son on the cross had as its aim their and our preparation for the final day when Jesus returns when they and we, if we’re trusting in Christ, will stand before him – to present us holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. And so Paul says to the Colossians and by extension to us (1:23) “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” You see continuing in the faith shows how real that faith is. So if it’s true that those who are genuinely in Christ will persevere to the end, then it’s equally true that they must persevere to the end. Like a building set on a sure foundation and erected with strong supports, we are to remain true to the gospel and not shift from the fixed ground of our Christian hope in Christ. We are to trust in Christ, remain in Christ, grow in Christ and mature in Christ alone becoming more like Christ. And that is God’s aim for us all (Ro 8:29) and it was Paul’s aim for everyone too, which is my first heading. 1. Paul’s aim for everyone If you’re trusting in Christ what is your aim for those God has put you amongst? And can I say there are opportunities to proclaim Christ today with a recent survey showing that 75% of UK households still own a Bible but don’t know or understand what’s in it. If you’re a Christian leader or involved in Christian ministry what is your aim for all those you lead or minister to under God? Do you have an aim? As someone has said, “Those who aim at nothing will hit nothing!” The Apostle Paul had an aim. His aim in proclaiming Christ, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, with the whole counsel of God, was to present who – just Epaphras (who had established the church at Colosse) and his other co-workers mature in Christ? No his aim was to present everyone perfect or mature in Christ. Have a look at chapter 1:28-29: ²⁸We proclaim him [that is Christ], admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect [mature] in Christ. ²⁹To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. Paul knew that his responsibility wasn’t finished with helping people to turn to Christ as Saviour and Lord. He was and we are called to make disciples not just converts and to teach them to obey everything Christ has commanded. His aim was to present everyone mature in Christ on the final day when the quality of his ministry would be tested. So his concern was for well established, settled congregations, strong in faith and growing in every way. And that word settled (orderly, firm in faith) is interesting. One of the commentators at Wimbledon was saying the tennis players who are ‘settled’ are more stable and more mature, such as Federer and Roddick. Apparently Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, likes his players to be married as he says that they are then more settled, stable, mature, less prone to late night partying and therefore more focused and have a greater longevity. And on the final day of the football season his hard work and struggle, sadly for many of us, often results in success. His management is tested so to speak and shows that he literally built with much silver and gold! We’ll see how he gets on with Michael Owen! Surely we too desire to see those around us come to trust in Christ and then to mature in Christ, to become settled or established in the faith, which, of course, doesn’t mean you have to be married but in Christ and looking to him for strength, wisdom and growth. The quality of our ministry will be tested too on that final day. Will we be shown to have built with hay and straw or with silver and gold as Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 3? Will we have built with Christ and his word or with man made materials? It’s why I’m passionate about people taking Christianity Explored and then Discipleship Explored, helping them to trust Christ, to start to read the Bible and pray, to become part of the fellowship here, encouraging them into a starter Home Group or another small group and into appropriate ministry. It’s one way of proclaiming Christ and admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom. And of course it doesn’t stop with a starter Home Group and ultimately it’s God’s work. And what God starts he finishes. Last month one mega church leader said this, “Why have we seen 1,200 people baptised this past month? Well God looks for the warmest incubator he can find. Why us? We were ready for them. We had a process, a system to bring them to maturity. We were ready for them. God doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance.” Are we ready for them? Am I? Are you? We need to be if we’re to grow under God to 5000. Are you ready to be involved? I know some of you are busy and some of you probably need a holiday, but are we busy with what’s going to last for eternity? And note again that Paul says everyone. He wants everyone to come to maturity in Christ. He doesn’t say only those with leadership potential or only those with a degree. In fact in the original Paul writes everyone or ‘each one’ three times. He emphasises that Christian teaching is for all and not for some spiritual elite and that Christian ministry involves the individual care of souls. That’s one reason why appropriate teaching and training we can offer must be available to all and not just to a few. It’s why appropriate teaching and training here at JPC should be available in the evenings as well as on Sundays and during the day and eventually by video on the internet. So that everyone can benefit and be helped to mature in Christ. And we must also be encouraging and building each other up individually. A church must grow larger and smaller at the same time. And all this takes hard work, effort and struggles. Indeed the word ‘labour’ speaks of intense effort. The word for struggling was sometimes used of fights and athletic contests. Helping people to maturity is not easy. But the strength for this effort comes from above. God was powerfully at work in Paul as he toiled energetically and we too are to labour and struggle, not in our own strength, but with all God’s energy which is so powerful and works in us as we do his will – v29 again: To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. I know these two verses are David Holloway’s life verses. They are two of mine too. If you’re in any kind of Christian leadership or involved in Christian ministry they’re important for you too. Paul often worked day and night to get the gospel out – to proclaim Christ as Lord, to admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom. And although we’re not the Apostle Paul we all (especially if we have any kind of leadership or teaching role) should want to help to present everyone mature in Christ. To this end we should all labour (including prayer), struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in those who willing to serve him. In v1 of chapter 2 Paul wants the church at Colosse and Laodicea to know how much he’s struggling for them even though he’s never met them personally. How much then should we do the same for those we do know and for those we pray for through contact with our mission partners? All of which brings us to my second heading. So secondly: 2) Paul’s purpose (especially for all who’ve not met him personally) What is Paul’s purpose, especially for all those he hasn’t met? 2:1-3: ¹[For (showing that verses are connected with at least the previous two)] I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. ²My purpose 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, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. His purpose in vv1-3 is that their lives and their life together might be strengthened in Christ, that they may go on trusting in Christ alone, and know Christ, in whom are stored up all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, so that (v4) they would not be taken in by any false teaching however plausible. He therefore wants them to be encouraged in heart and united in love. Otherwise they might be tempted to give up or give in to spurious teaching. And we need encouragement, don’t we, to keep going in these days when we all face difficulties and pressures, to stand firm together in Christ, in the love of Christ, in the very foundation of the Christian life and so in love and truth. When was the last time some of us encouraged someone in their faith in Christ? Can I encourage us to do so? When was the last time some of us prayed for someone in this fellowship outside of a group meeting? Can I encourage us to do so? And without love we are nothing. If we’re going to grow, mature and stand firm in Christ both individually and as a church we need to be encouraged in heart and united in love. Why? Well look at vv2&3 again: ²…So that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So that they might have the full riches of complete understanding. What does Paul mean? Well they come from being in Christ and united in Christ and they consist of an informed conviction which results from insight, ie the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. Then they will know Christ better – the mystery of God. No doubt some at Colosse claimed exclusive access to the mysteries of God’s truth, but Paul insists that Christ is God’s mystery, and all understanding is to be found in him, which he emphasises in v3, where hidden doesn’t mean concealed but rather stored up. So Christ is the ultimate storehouse of divine wisdom and spiritual knowledge. And we’re to look to him as the only place where these treasures are available. To search for other sources of such knowledge apart from Christ is useless. Why does Paul tell them this? Well that brings me to my third and final heading. So thirdly: 3) Paul’s warning and joy (vv4-5) ⁴I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. ⁵For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. Paul tells his readers this so that they and we won’t be deceived or deluded by what appears to be reasonable or even wise from teachers who seem very persuasive. As Paul warns in Acts 20, these teachers can so often come from within the church both local and wider as wolves in sheep’s clothing, even from evangelical backgrounds. Some today deny the power of the cross of Christ by denying penal substitutionary atonement while still appearing to preach powerfully the love of God. They can appear to believe the Bible but actually they subtract from it. Others add to the Bible and say, as the false teachers were probably saying at Colosse, that mere Christianity is not enough, that there is a fuller experience, a greater liberation. So we too need to heed this warning in an age when the arts of persuasion, and the means by which they can be exercised, are so highly developed. Yet despite the dangers and threats which faced the church at Colosse and which still face the church today there is much to rejoice over both then in the Colossian church and now here at JPC. Paul delights in the well ordered Christian behaviour of the community, along with the firmness of their dynamic faith in Christ alone. Despite the enticements and fine sounding arguments of the false teachers these Christians were standing firm in Christ, in orderly unbroken ranks. How we need to do the same today. And I thank God for how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is, for the unity we have in Christ, for the unbroken ranks we are a part of as we stand firm in and for Christ and his word against the enemy. And we must to continue to be on guard and learn to distinguish the true from the false as we grow and mature in Christ. We’re to watch our life and doctrine. Martin Luther once said that normally the gospel only remains in one place for about 30 years. This church started well 148 years ago but it relatively quickly became infected with Freemasonry, a group with secret mysteries and false wisdom and knowledge about God, which led to its decline until 1960. And it’s interesting that the church at Laodicea to whom this letter is also addressed becomes spiritually blind, bankrupt, naked and lukewarm only a few years later. Jesus says to that church in Revelation 3:14-22 that he will spit them out of his mouth. Paul’s warning is real and must not be taken lightly. Who needs to repent and trust in Christ alone today? Maybe you’re caught up in Freemasonry. Why not turn to and trust in Christ alone? In Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And if we’re trusting in Christ alone then we’re complete in Christ. We are to encourage one another in this and be joyful. All God’s fullness is in Christ alone and only through his complete work are we set free. That’s the message of Colossians. I must conclude. As I do so, let me underscore the obvious and perhaps the less obvious when it comes to the secret of unity and of helping others to come to trust in Christ and to mature in Christ from this section of Colossians. And this is so relevant on the eve of the UK launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. Obviously, if less than the Christ of chapter one verses 15-20 is believed then there’ll be no gospel to preach, no good news to offer. What is not quite so obvious, but is equally important, is that the united front so essential for convincing evangelism will be threatened when there are those teaching more than this Christ. We need to take very seriously Paul’s claim that all our spiritual treasures are found in Christ alone if the powerful witness of a band of Christian churches is to be exercised in the world.
For more sermon transcripts visit http://www.church.org.uk

Trusting in Christ

A sermon preached by Jonathan Redfearn