The Church That Was

I’d like to begin this morning
by talking about, by telling you about a particular church. It was a small church, not unlike
our own, and I really can’t tell you about the history of this
church. No one seems to know how it came
to be, or with any degree of certainty, who planted it. We can only assume that the church
was the very fruit of the gospel. That someone got saved and went
back to their city and they began to share Christ. People began
coming to faith and soon a church was born. As I said, this church
was a smaller church. It usually did not garner much
attention. As far as we know, no prominent
Christian leaders of the day ever visited this church. This
church had no great scandals or controversies that brought
recognition to her for all the wrong reasons. But this little,
seemingly insignificant, out-of-the-way church soon became known to none
other than the Apostle Paul. And it became known to him as
a good and faithful church. And as humble and godly as this
church was, no one seemed to have much time for them. No one
except the Apostle Paul. Even though Paul had dozens and
dozens of churches vying for his valuable time and attention,
this little church caught his attention. And so intense was
his concern for this church that he wrote her a letter, one of
only 13 letters that we have in our Bibles. And I’m talking,
of course, about the little church of Colossae and Paul’s letter
to her, the Book of Colossians. Colossae, the city, actually,
let’s just be honest and call it a town, Colossi, the town,
was in the south-central area of westernmost Asia, now known
as Turkey. It resided in the region of Phrygia. Phrygia is about the size of
Kansas, and it would be about like someone telling you that
they had just come from Kansas and you saying, oh, did you stop
into Wamego, Kansas? Population 4,000. This little mountain town was
situated at the end of a narrow 10-mile canyon. The image reminded
me a little bit of that little enclave at the south end of Horsetooth
Reservoir. The town was hemmed in on three
sides. north and east by plateaus, south
by a small 7,000-foot mountain, and a gentle stream ran right
through the middle of town. Just 10 or so miles down the
valley lay the much bigger city of Laodicea, and then her sister
city, Hierapolis, five miles north. These three cities, in
close proximity to one another, no doubt interacted with one
another and influenced each other. They not only would have passed
along news and opinions, but also even the gospel, the good
news of Christ. The two larger cities, Laodicea
and Hierapolis, had another effect on Colossae. You see, they were
bigger, more accessible than the little mountain town of Colossae.
And even though in its early days, Colossae had been a booming
city, a city of some note, one historian said, a populous city,
prosperous and great, wrote another. As the decades and centuries
passed, however, Laodicea and Hierapolis, being
much more popular and accessible, began to wear down this little
mountain town. As the decades and centuries
passed, historians would characterize her much differently. A small
town, said one, her greatness had been eclipsed by other neighboring towns. Colossae is
a town that seemed was dying. Whatever importance it once had
was all but gone by Paul’s day. And that makes a letter to Colossae
from the great Apostle Paul an astounding thing, really. One
commentator coldly stated that Colossae was the least important
church to which any epistle of Paul is addressed. That is a
very harsh opinion. But there may be some truth to
it. In his second letter to Corinth,
Paul himself said that he spoke about how thinly he was spread
in ministry. He said, there is daily pressure
on me of concern for all the churches. How could Paul possibly have
the same care for every church in existence? Colossae had very little to offer. Neither the town nor the church
was of any great size. Nor were they a particularly
wealthy community. The town wasn’t positioned on
some great east-west highway through Asia. Colossae was not
strategic. It was a small church in a small,
insignificant town. Paul had no obligation to them. This was not his church plant. Nevertheless, the Colossian church
received his very special attention in an epistle written directly
to them. We have absolutely no proof that
Paul ever visited the little town of Colossae. There are several
occasions in Acts where It was recorded that Paul was in the
region of Phrygia, the greater region in which Colossae was
located. Acts 16 and Acts 18-23 both mention
it. In 1616, Luke just says they
passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region. That doesn’t
indicate much of a ministry there at that time. And even in Acts
18.23, Luke records, he passed successively through the Galatian
region and Phrygia, almost an afterthought, strengthening all
the disciples. That doesn’t prove that there
were even any disciples yet in Colossae. It’s certainly possible that
there was an unrecorded visit. We can’t imagine that Luke chronicled
every single step that Paul took. There’s just no mention anywhere
that Paul ever set foot in this town or anywhere even close to
her. It’s highly unlikely, improbable. Listen to this at Colossians
2.1. I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf
and for those who are at Laodicea and for all those who have not
personally seen my face.” That pretty much closes the door on
any idea of Paul ever having been in Colossae. Paul certainly
seems to indicate that if he’d never even met the believers
in Colossae, then almost certainly he had
nothing to do with the planting of that church. The epistle itself tells us the
same thing. Paul never suggests that he preached
the gospel to them or taught them or corrected them like he
often does to other churches that he planted. Paul is to be
credited with the greatest spread of the gospel that the world
has ever known. But Colossae doesn’t seem to
be one of those towns. But if Paul didn’t establish
this little church, who did? And here, too, there’s little
information to be very dogmatic, but a man named Epaphras appears
to be a good candidate. Epaphras, or his full name, Epaphroditus,
had become saved almost certainly through Paul’s ministry, then
became his friend and what Paul characterizes as his fellow worker. We have no account of his conversion
at all, but it’s possible and even likely that during Paul’s
nearly four-year ministry in Ephesus, only 100 miles away,
that somehow their paths crossed and Epaphras was saved. Near
the end of his letter in the book of Colossians, Paul refers
to Epaphroditus as one of your number. He was from Colossae. This man was most likely not
only a native of the region, but it seems that he returned
to his hometown of Colossae and brought the gospel with him.
And soon in God’s providence, a church was born. Listen to
the commendation that Paul gives Epaphras in his opening words
to the Colossians. Paul is speaking of the gospel
when he says that the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and
increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day
you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth, just
as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bondservant
who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf. Epaphroditus
was the likely church planter there in Colossae. And at some
point in Paul’s Roman imprisonment, Epaphroditus made a visit to
see Paul. And with his visit came a report
about this church. He may well have been seeking
counsel, wise counsel from this apostle. Epaphroditus’ report
was overall a positive report about the church. This was a godly church, even
if small. Epaphras conveyed to Paul about
their vibrant faith, the brotherly love that they exhibited, the
God-given hope that they possessed as they looked heavenward, But
there were concerns as well. That’s what brought Epaphroditus
to Rome. Colossae was steeped in a heathen
culture not unlike our own. And while there’s no finely detailed
description here, we do glean from what Paul says to them elements
of this spiritual climate in which they were immersed. The
overall spiritual atmosphere of this area was really a melding
of several different religions. There was the foundation of emperor
worship, which was almost mandatory for Roman citizens. There were
many idol cults and prevailing philosophies, and there were
elements of this so-called religion that were pilfered from other
religions, including Judaism. And the end result was this syncretism,
a blending of a little bit of all of these things to make their
own religion. One historian describes a mad
religious scene of wild superstitions together with delirious fanaticism. Their so-called priests would
cut themselves and thrash about, not to music, but to noise. And it seemed that the more extravagant,
the more credibility the religion had. Well, this all made for
a terrible influence for an infant church, and Epaphras knew it. The people’s past served like
an iron cable tying them back to heathenism. The current of
the culture was so strong that they found it difficult to row
against it. The devil, always searching for
new ways to drag the Lord’s people away from the simple gospel and
off of the path of righteousness, he was hard at work. The very
gospel was being undermined by the things being taught and promoted. But Epaphras just didn’t know
quite what to do or say. And so he made the thousand mile
trek to Rome to see his mentor, Paul. In a remarkable turn of God’s
providence, even though Paul was a prisoner there in Rome,
he was granted a measure of freedom that allowed him not only to
receive visitors, but to preach and to write. And as you know,
Paul wrote not one, but four letters from his Roman imprisonment. Philippians, Ephesians, Philemon,
and this letter, Paul’s letter to the Colossians. All but Philippians
can be lumped together. Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon,
they can be lumped together because they were likely written at the
same time and they were delivered by the same individuals, a man
named Tychicus and Onesimus. The reason for Paul writing this
letter to Colossians, if not stated overtly, is clearly seen
in the matters that Paul addresses in this letter. He writes to
strengthen the church’s doctrine, particularly the doctrine of
Christ. Paul’s purpose is to demonstrate
that Jesus Christ is all sufficient, that in him we are complete as
believers. This letter was written at the
same time as Ephesians, as I mentioned, and so it may not surprise us
that these letters are remarkably similar. The first half of both
epistles open with a doctrinal section, And they close with
a practical section. In Ephesians, we consider the
church Christ’s body. In Colossians, we consider the
head of the body Christ himself. Colossians presents Jesus Christ
as preeminent, which leaves no room for the foolish ideas that
were undermining the gospel of Christ and his redemption. If
the reader would only realize the completeness of God in Christ,
he or she too will understand that they are complete in him. Paul closes this epistle with
a little instruction. that this letter be read among
them, that is read aloud publicly. If you’re not there already,
would you turn to the book of Colossians? Colossians in chapter one and
verse one. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and
faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae, grace to you
and peace from God our Father. We give thanks to God, the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you since we heard
of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for
all the saints. Because of the hope laid up for
you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the
gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also
it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has
been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood
the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras.
our beloved fellow bondservant, who is a faithful servant of
Christ on our behalf, and he informed us of your love in the
Spirit. For this reason also, since the
day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, to ask
that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all
spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner
worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing
fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of
God, strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might,
for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience. joyously giving
thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the
inheritance of the saints in light. For he rescued us from
the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved
Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have
been created through him and for him. He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body,
the church, And He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good
pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through
Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through
the blood of His cross, through Him, I say, whether things on
earth or things in heaven. And Although you were formerly
alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he
has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in
order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond
reproach. If indeed you continue in the
faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away
from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed
in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made
a minister. Now, I rejoice in my sufferings
for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his
body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in
Christ’s afflictions. Of this church, I was made a
minister, according to the stewardship from God, bestowed on me for
your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching
of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden
from the past ages and generations, but now has been manifested to
his saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you. the hope of glory. We proclaim
him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom
so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose, I labor, striving
according to his power, which mightily works in me. For I want
you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf. and for
those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally
seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been
knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes
from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge
of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself. in whom are hidden all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will
delude you with a persuasive argument. For even though I am
absent in body, nevertheless, I am with you in spirit rejoicing
to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in
Christ. Therefore, As you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord,
so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up
in him and established in your faith. Just as you were instructed
and overflowing with gratitude, See to it that no one takes you
captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to
the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles
of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in him all the
fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and in him you have been
made complete. And he is the head over all rule
and authority. And in him you were also circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the
flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with
him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him
through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the
dead. When you were dead in your transgressions
and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive
together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having
canceled out the certificate of death consisting of decrees
against us, which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out
of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When he had disarmed the rulers
and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed
over them through him. Therefore, no one is to act as
your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival
or new moon or Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what
is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one
keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement
and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions that he
has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not
holding fast to the head from whom the entire body, being supplied
and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth
which is from God. If you have died with Christ
to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you
were still living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees
such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which all
refer to things destined to perish with use in accordance with the
commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which
have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom, and self-made religion,
and self-abasement, and severe treatment of the body, but are
of no value against fleshly indulgence. Therefore, if you have been raised
up with Christ, keep seeking the things above. where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the
things above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you
have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
who is our life, is revealed, then you will be revealed with
him in glory. Therefore, consider the members
of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,
evil desire, and greed. which amounts to idolatry, for
it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come
upon the sons of disobedience. And in them you also once walked
when you were living in them, but now you also put them aside. Anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and abusive speech from your mouth, Do not lie to one another
since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices
and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true
knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. A
renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and
Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and
freeman. But Christ is all and in all. So, as those who have been chosen
of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and
forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against
anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things, put
on love, which is the perfect bond of unity, Let the peace
of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called
in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly
dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one
another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do, in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
through him to God the Father. Wives, be subject to your husbands
as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and
do not be embittered against them. Children, be obedient to
your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing. to the
Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your
children so that they will not lose heart. Slaves, in all things,
obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service
as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of the heart,
fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work
heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men. knowing that from
the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It
is the Lord Christ whom you serve, for he who does wrong will receive
the consequences of the wrong he has done, and that without
partiality. Masters, grant to your slaves
justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a master in
heaven, Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with
an attitude of thanksgiving, praying at the same time for
us as well that God will open up to us a door for the word,
so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which
I have also been imprisoned, that I may make it clear in the
way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom
towards outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let
your speech always be with grace, as though it was seasoned with
salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. As to all my affairs, Tychicus,
our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bondservant
in the Lord, will bring you information. For I have sent him to you for
this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances,
and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him, Onesimus,
our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They
will inform you about the whole situation here. Aristarchus,
my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings, also Barnabas’s
cousin, Mark, about whom you received instructions. If he
comes to you, welcome him. And also Jesus, who is called
Justice. These are the only fellow workers
for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they
have proved to be an encouragement to me. Epaphras, who is one of
your number, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings,
always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you
may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God, For I
testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for all those,
for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Luke, the beloved
physician, sends you his greetings and also Demas. Greet the brethren
who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is
in her house. When this letter is read among
you, have it read in the church of the Laodiceans, and you, for
your part, read my letter that is coming from Laodicea. Say
to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which you have received
in the Lord that you may fulfill it. I, Paul, write this greeting
with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace
be with you. If God’s people would turn back
to verses 1 and 2 of chapter 1, you’ll note here that Paul
begins his customary greeting with his identity, the intended
recipients, as well as a brief blessing. It’s in all of his
greetings, and though Paul’s greeting, it fits a pattern,
it’s not a mere formality. Almost every word is laden with
meaning. The very first word identifies
this beloved friend, Paul. Most conservative scholars believe
that Paul had two names at birth, one Jewish, Saul, one Greek,
Paul. Neither he nor God changed his
name And this choice servant of God would have been well known
even to the obscure church of Colossae. Nevertheless, in order
to firm up his credibility with them, he points out that he was
an apostle of Christ by the will of God. You likely already know
that the word apostle means, in its most basic sense, sent
one. Someone who is sent by another
for a particular task, usually as a messenger. But that word
is also used, as you know, in a much more technical sense of those 12 divinely appointed
messengers who were sent to proclaim the gospel. And Paul says here,
without any hesitation, mind you, that he was an apostle in
the true sense of the word. He’s not one of the twelve, but
by the will of God, possessing the same calling, the same authority
as any of the other apostles. Paul’s apostleship was God’s
doing, is what he says. So in nearly all of his epistles,
Paul declares this significant point, and frequently we find
Paul in his letters defending this apostleship. Most strongly
in 2 Corinthians 12, he says, in no respect was I inferior
to the most eminent of the apostles. Well, in addition to identifying
himself, Paul mentions Timothy, our brother, and on the face
of it, it’s hard here to understand why Paul would mention Timothy.
We don’t know for certain that Timothy ever visited Colossae
either. He did serve with Paul during
Paul’s Ephesian ministry. But in the end, mentioning his
young son in the faith has the effect of broadening out Paul’s
authority and influence. The Christian ministry was not
carried out only by Paul. And so frequently, Paul uses
the plural we in this letter Paul is even preparing himself
for eventual martyrdom. The churches would have to look
to other younger men like Timothy and Epaphras. Would you glance
at verse 2? In verse 2, Paul addresses those
to whom he’s writing. To the saints and faithful brethren
in Christ, to Eric Clossy. And using these two identifiers,
saints and faithful, Paul isn’t speaking of two different groups,
saints as opposed to the faithful. These are two different ways
of saying the same thing. These are but one and the same,
those faithful brothers in Christ who had been set apart, sanctified,
made to be saints by their faith in Christ. This word saint is
not reserved for those who might be recognized as such 50 years
after they are dead and gone. It refers to all of those who
have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Beautiful image. And to these believers, Paul
issues a glorious blessing. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father. We make a grand mistake to treat
these words as a simple greeting. These words are a short summary
of the gospel. Grace is the only means by which
we are saved. Grace alone, as we just studied,
such grace takes a hardened sinner and transforms him or her into
a child of God. and that same grace continues
to flow into the person, strengthening them and sanctifying them, so
that grace is seen not only as the source of our salvation,
but the source of our sanctification, our equipping for ministry, our
victory over sin, and every Christian discipline, and peace. How could we overlook peace,
glorious peace with God that is the result of salvation? If
grace is the divinely provided, divinely supplied enablement,
peace, that is God’s peace, is the inevitable end. The free
favor of God, which saves and sanctifies and equips for his
service, bestowed in his immeasurable grace, must ultimately produce
the peace that passes all understanding. Well, We know now that this Colossian
church in God’s providence, they soon found her city to be in
decline. There were other larger cities,
as we pointed out nearby, cities that were more accessible, in
which resided more industry and more opportunity. In our early
American history, the success or failure of a small city was
greatly tied to where the railroad tracks were laid, right? Towns near the railroad flourished,
and towns that were far away withered and died. Such was the
case with the little church and her city. Bigger cities with
more to offer began to choke out this nearby city, and with
it, this little church. We have a faulty notion that
all churches will live forever. It’s not true. That faulty notion
rests on a misunderstanding of Matthew 16, 18. I will build
my church, Christ’s words, I will build my church and the gates
of Hades will not overpower it. Christ there is not talking about
so many little independent churches. He’s talking about the one great
invisible church. God wins in the end. Christ conquers
all. Churches, even entire denominations,
die and close their doors every day forever. I had an alarming realization several
months ago related to our European Reformation trip. Here we were
in places like Edinburgh, I learned to pronounce it, St. Andrews,
Cambridge, Oxford, and we also have our dear missionaries in
Geneva, Switzerland. All of these cities where the
fires of the Reformation burned the brightest. Now, for the most part, there’s
no discernible evidence of gospel influence at all. We gotta go
back in and plant a church in Geneva. You see, we don’t plant anything
permanent here on earth. We take a hill and we fight the
battle that is before us. We serve the Lord there and then. And we hold the ground as long
as God enables. For generations, for hundreds
of years, prayerfully. What matters is not how large
the church is, how many members it has, how long the church endures,
but how faithfully she functions as long as God sustains her. Well, this one little church
of Colossae, she came and went. History tells us of the Colossian
church that as their city gradually died out, so did the church.
And yet in God’s good providence, because of this little church,
we have this wonderful letter, Colossians, a nourishing serving
of truth. Would you humble yourself before
your Lord?