WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.140 and whatever you do, in word or deed, 2 00:00:03.140 --> 00:00:05.900 do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, 3 00:00:05.900 --> 00:00:08.740 giving thanks to God the Father through him. 4 00:00:15.740 --> 00:00:16.640 My name's Joey Follett. 5 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:18.100 I'm a pastor at the Road Church, 6 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:21.420 and we are gonna go through the book of Colossians together. 7 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:23.340 The book of Colossians is a powerful book 8 00:00:23.340 --> 00:00:27.020 written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Colossae. 9 00:00:27.020 --> 00:00:29.740 But before we start with the context of this book 10 00:00:29.740 --> 00:00:32.520 in chapter one, I wanna begin in chapter three 11 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.620 with verse 17, Colossians 3, 17 says this. 12 00:00:36.620 --> 00:00:39.540 And whatever you do, in word or deed, 13 00:00:39.540 --> 00:00:42.300 do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, 14 00:00:42.300 --> 00:00:45.160 giving thanks to God the Father through him. 15 00:00:45.160 --> 00:00:48.120 Colossians 3, 17 is a favorite verse of mine, 16 00:00:48.120 --> 00:00:50.760 and I think it can serve as the theme verse 17 00:00:50.760 --> 00:00:53.020 for the entire book of Colossians. 18 00:00:53.020 --> 00:00:57.040 Paul writes, whatever you do in word and in deed. 19 00:00:57.040 --> 00:00:58.240 So that about covers it, right? 20 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:01.280 Everything you say and everything you do. 21 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:03.920 And we know that we're known by what we say and what we do, 22 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:05.640 words and actions. 23 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:08.120 There's not much more that we can be known by 24 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:09.800 than what we say and what we do. 25 00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:13.080 And so Paul's saying, whatever you are doing, 26 00:01:13.080 --> 00:01:15.300 whatever you are saying, 27 00:01:15.300 --> 00:01:17.880 do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 28 00:01:17.880 --> 00:01:19.240 Do it for him. 29 00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:23.360 Point to Jesus with whatever you are doing. 30 00:01:23.360 --> 00:01:25.280 Now, one could read that verse and think, 31 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:27.320 man, there's a lot of pressure 32 00:01:27.320 --> 00:01:29.240 that's associated with that, right? 33 00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:34.040 Everything I say and do, I have to do it for Jesus. 34 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:38.120 But I actually think there's a lot of freedom in this verse 35 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:41.960 because what's Paul saying is we can bring glory to God 36 00:01:41.960 --> 00:01:44.240 with whatever we're doing, right? 37 00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:46.520 So meaning you don't have to be a pastor 38 00:01:46.520 --> 00:01:48.740 in a church to glorify God, right? 39 00:01:48.740 --> 00:01:50.400 You don't have to work in a church. 40 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:51.800 You don't have to devote your life 41 00:01:51.800 --> 00:01:54.440 to working for a ministry or a nonprofit. 42 00:01:54.440 --> 00:01:57.480 We can work hard and glorify God as a lawyer, 43 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.360 as a doctor, as a teacher, as an athlete. 44 00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:04.600 Whatever we're doing, wherever God's leading us, 45 00:02:04.600 --> 00:02:07.240 whatever passions and gifts and talents he's given us, 46 00:02:07.240 --> 00:02:10.080 we can do those things to glorify God. 47 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:11.960 Now, you can also do those jobs 48 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:13.720 and not bring glory to God, right? 49 00:02:13.720 --> 00:02:17.560 You can even be a pastor in a church and not glorify God 50 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:19.700 if you're doing it for the wrong reasons. 51 00:02:19.700 --> 00:02:21.480 But whatever you're doing, wherever you feel led, 52 00:02:21.480 --> 00:02:24.600 wherever the Lord's leading you, do that thing, 53 00:02:24.600 --> 00:02:29.520 do that job, do that career, use that talent to glorify him. 54 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:32.760 And Paul also says, don't forget to give thanks, right? 55 00:02:32.760 --> 00:02:35.680 There's power in thanksgiving and gratitude, 56 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:38.640 and Paul often wrote about thanksgiving and gratitude. 57 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:40.040 So that verse, Colossians 3, 17, 58 00:02:40.040 --> 00:02:42.500 is gonna guide us through this study 59 00:02:42.500 --> 00:02:44.720 of the book of Colossians. 60 00:02:44.720 --> 00:02:45.560 So let's dive in. 61 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:47.960 The context of Colossians, Paul wrote it. 62 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:50.040 I always start with who's the author of the book 63 00:02:50.040 --> 00:02:50.960 if we're gonna look at any book, 64 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.000 study any book of the Bible, who's the author? 65 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.320 And not because we wanna bring too much emphasis 66 00:02:55.320 --> 00:02:56.460 to the person who wrote it, 67 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:59.160 because I believe that God wrote the Bible. 68 00:02:59.160 --> 00:03:00.760 God's the author of the Bible. 69 00:03:00.760 --> 00:03:01.920 He used people. 70 00:03:01.920 --> 00:03:03.240 It's his words. 71 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:04.740 It's also important to understand 72 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:06.760 the person behind the words, too, 73 00:03:06.760 --> 00:03:08.040 as we look at the context. 74 00:03:08.040 --> 00:03:11.760 So the book of Colossians was written by the apostle Paul, 75 00:03:11.760 --> 00:03:13.960 probably around 62 AD, 76 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:16.800 while he was in prison in the city of Rome. 77 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.320 And he wrote this book to the Colossians, 78 00:03:19.320 --> 00:03:21.900 more specifically, a group of Christians 79 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:23.280 living in the city of Colossae, 80 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:24.760 which was a small town, 81 00:03:24.760 --> 00:03:26.760 and this would've been a small group of believers. 82 00:03:26.760 --> 00:03:30.360 And he wrote this book to warn against false teaching 83 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:32.520 that was going on in Colossae, 84 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:34.540 but also to encourage them, 85 00:03:34.540 --> 00:03:36.600 since they were dealing with social pressure, 86 00:03:36.600 --> 00:03:38.100 to leave the faith. 87 00:03:38.100 --> 00:03:39.840 So let's read the first couple of verses 88 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:41.260 of chapter one together. 89 00:03:41.260 --> 00:03:42.800 Colossians 1, verse one says, 90 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.360 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, 91 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:47.420 and Timothy, our brother, 92 00:03:47.420 --> 00:03:50.980 to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae, 93 00:03:50.980 --> 00:03:54.660 grace to you and peace from God our Father. 94 00:03:54.660 --> 00:03:55.660 So who was Paul, right? 95 00:03:55.660 --> 00:03:57.100 If we're talking about Paul being the author 96 00:03:57.100 --> 00:03:59.020 of the book of Colossians, who was Paul? 97 00:03:59.020 --> 00:04:01.180 And I love talking about Paul. 98 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:03.980 He was known as the chief of the apostles. 99 00:04:03.980 --> 00:04:06.220 Matthew Henry coined that term. 100 00:04:06.220 --> 00:04:07.340 And what is an apostle? 101 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:09.340 Someone sent by Jesus. 102 00:04:09.340 --> 00:04:10.540 And as we'll see here in a minute, 103 00:04:10.540 --> 00:04:12.300 Paul was sent by Jesus. 104 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:16.459 He wrote about 13 or 14 of the books in the New Testament. 105 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:18.339 He started over a dozen churches. 106 00:04:18.339 --> 00:04:19.500 Before he became an apostle, 107 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:21.899 he was born and given the name Saul 108 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:25.660 to a Jewish family in Tarsus, which was a Roman city. 109 00:04:25.660 --> 00:04:28.220 He later became known as Paul. 110 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:30.660 He was trained at a top school in Jerusalem, 111 00:04:30.660 --> 00:04:33.080 became a Pharisee, just like his father. 112 00:04:33.080 --> 00:04:35.820 However, Paul, like many of the other Pharisees, 113 00:04:35.820 --> 00:04:38.340 missed it when it came to Jesus, right? 114 00:04:38.340 --> 00:04:42.540 They were largely behind his crucifixion. 115 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:44.020 And if you read the book of Acts, 116 00:04:44.020 --> 00:04:47.700 it follows closely the ministry of Paul 117 00:04:47.700 --> 00:04:50.980 and documents the years following Jesus Christ's death 118 00:04:50.980 --> 00:04:52.580 and resurrection and ascension. 119 00:04:52.580 --> 00:04:54.860 But Paul, as a Pharisee, spent most of his time 120 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:58.620 persecuting Christians, followers of Jesus. 121 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:00.180 He did not believe. 122 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.520 that Jesus was God. He believed that Jesus was just a man and so he he devoted his 123 00:05:05.520 --> 00:05:10.980 life to going after these Jesus followers, persecuting them. In Acts chapter 7 124 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:16.100 we actually see Paul overseeing and approving the stoning of a young 125 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:21.020 Christian Jesus follower named Stephen. He's well known, Paul was well known in 126 00:05:21.020 --> 00:05:24.780 the Christian community as a persecutor of Jesus followers and many of them 127 00:05:24.780 --> 00:05:30.020 feared his name. So how do we go from that Paul who's persecuting, killing 128 00:05:30.020 --> 00:05:33.900 Christians to the Paul who wrote Colossians in most of the New Testament? 129 00:05:33.900 --> 00:05:38.860 Well that story is found in Acts chapter 9. In Acts 9 one says Saul was 130 00:05:38.860 --> 00:05:44.900 breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord. Breathing threats 131 00:05:44.900 --> 00:05:49.780 of murder, yikes, that's really bad right? And if you continue reading in Acts 9 132 00:05:49.780 --> 00:05:55.020 you'll see as he was doing that he was on his way to a city to persecute 133 00:05:55.020 --> 00:05:59.940 Christians and Jesus stopped him and encountered him. He was stopped by a 134 00:05:59.940 --> 00:06:05.480 light from heaven and a voice that said, Paul, Paul, why do you persecute me? So 135 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:10.820 Paul asked the voice to identify himself and Jesus answered him. Jesus says, I am 136 00:06:10.820 --> 00:06:16.420 Jesus. So now Paul can no longer deny the deity of Christ, right? That was his 137 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:19.900 problem. He's like, Jesus wasn't actually God and these Christians are crazy 138 00:06:19.900 --> 00:06:24.900 believing in Jesus and now a voice from heaven with a blinding light is 139 00:06:24.900 --> 00:06:30.700 identifying that voice, is identifying himself as Jesus. So now Paul cannot deny 140 00:06:30.700 --> 00:06:35.380 the deity of Christ. A man can't do that. If Jesus was just a man he wouldn't been 141 00:06:35.380 --> 00:06:41.700 able to approach Paul in that way. So man can you imagine now the shame and grief 142 00:06:41.700 --> 00:06:48.580 that must have filled up Paul in that moment, right? To realize how wrong he had 143 00:06:48.580 --> 00:06:53.700 been. And so now he's left blind after this event. He had just been 144 00:06:53.700 --> 00:06:56.540 encountered by Jesus. He's probably filled with shame and grief, not sure 145 00:06:56.540 --> 00:07:00.660 what's gonna happen next. And Jesus gives him instructions to go find a man 146 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:05.260 named Ananias who was a Jesus follower. And in verse 10 of Acts 9 we're 147 00:07:05.260 --> 00:07:09.740 introduced to Ananias. He was chosen by God to help Paul and minister to him and 148 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:13.500 he's definitely not excited about it at first when God said, hey, Paul's gonna 149 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:17.580 come and find you. Ananias is like, wait a minute, he doesn't like people like me. 150 00:07:17.580 --> 00:07:24.380 But then in verse 15 to Ananias God says, Paul is his chosen instrument to 151 00:07:24.380 --> 00:07:29.940 carry my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel. 152 00:07:29.940 --> 00:07:36.860 God called Paul his chosen instrument. You see, God saw something in Paul that 153 00:07:36.900 --> 00:07:41.580 Paul didn't even know was there. God knew that Paul was capable of bringing the 154 00:07:41.580 --> 00:07:47.460 gospel to all of these people and he knew what he could accomplish for the 155 00:07:47.460 --> 00:07:51.060 gospel. And Paul didn't know that was there, but God saw it in him and said, 156 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:56.540 he's my chosen instrument. And God used a man named Ananias to help Paul realize 157 00:07:56.540 --> 00:08:02.980 what he was capable of. Ananias, despite fear, is obedient to God. Ananias, because 158 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:08.660 of his faith, is able to help Paul. He helped heal him and restore his sight 159 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:12.740 using the power of the Holy Spirit. He baptized him and he taught him about the 160 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:16.980 grace of Jesus and the healing power of Jesus because Paul is unaware of these 161 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:22.940 things. And so Ananias was able to help him. That's the background of Paul. After 162 00:08:22.940 --> 00:08:27.860 Paul's encounter with Jesus and time with Ananias, he immediately begins doing 163 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:34.659 the work that God had for him. Teaching, preaching, and healing. A complete 180. 164 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:40.260 Instead of going after followers of Jesus and persecuting them and killing 165 00:08:40.260 --> 00:08:45.660 them, he's now going after Jesus, pursuing Jesus, and telling people about him. 166 00:08:45.660 --> 00:08:50.260 Teaching, preaching, and healing. That's Paul, the man who wrote Colossians, the 167 00:08:50.260 --> 00:08:55.100 chief of the Apostles, God's chosen instrument. So back to Colossians, this 168 00:08:55.100 --> 00:09:00.380 letter written by Paul. Verse 3 says, 169 00:09:25.100 --> 00:09:42.180 So three things right there. So in this, three things that Paul lays out. 170 00:09:42.180 --> 00:09:46.940 Faith, hope, and love. These six verses is a prayer written specifically for the 171 00:09:46.940 --> 00:09:50.900 believers in Colossae by Paul. He writes this letter, starts this letter by 172 00:09:50.900 --> 00:09:55.100 praising and encouraging them. He said he's heard about their faith and hope 173 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:59.420 and love. You see, Paul had actually never been to the city of Colossae, but he was 174 00:09:59.420 --> 00:10:02.060 friends with 175 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:03.920 the pastor there, and he had heard about, while he was in prison, his friend visited 176 00:10:03.920 --> 00:10:06.800 him, and he'd heard about their faith and hope and love, and so he's encouraging 177 00:10:06.800 --> 00:10:10.080 them. He said, hey, good job. Keep it up, right? I've heard 178 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:13.440 about your faith, your love, and your hope, and 179 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:17.280 those three things right there, those attributes, faith, love, and hope, 180 00:10:17.280 --> 00:10:21.040 are fundamental to the life of a believer. 181 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:23.920 They're critical to the life of a believer. Faith 182 00:10:23.920 --> 00:10:27.440 is critical. Hebrews 11 says, now faith is the assurance 183 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:31.520 of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. 184 00:10:31.520 --> 00:10:34.880 Faith can be a difficult thing for someone to have because it's believing 185 00:10:34.880 --> 00:10:37.840 in something that maybe we don't fully understand or we can't fully 186 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:41.200 see. Hebrews 11 6, the same chapter, also says, without 187 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.360 faith it's impossible to please God, for whoever would draw 188 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:51.600 near to God must believe that he exists, and he rewards those who seek him. 189 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.680 Faith is fundamental to the life of a believer, and Paul's writing to these 190 00:10:55.680 --> 00:10:58.800 believers, encouraging them, so he's saying, I've heard about your 191 00:10:58.800 --> 00:11:03.200 faith. Keep it up. You gotta have faith. We can't please God. We can't 192 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:06.640 follow God. We can't seek God without faith in him. That's 193 00:11:06.640 --> 00:11:09.840 fundamental. He also said he heard about their love, 194 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.120 right? 1 John 3 1 says, see what kind of love 195 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.880 the Father has given to us that we should be called children 196 00:11:16.880 --> 00:11:21.760 of God, and so we are. Love is this trickle-down effect, right? God the Father 197 00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:27.440 loved us so much he sent Jesus, and now that we are filled with that love, we 198 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:31.600 should love others. It trickles down from the Father through Jesus into us, 199 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:35.840 and we should be the extension of that love to whoever we interact with, 200 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.960 right? Believers in Christ, believers of Jesus 201 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:42.080 should be walking in love, showing love, demonstrating love, 202 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:46.080 and again, Paul saw that, heard about that in the church of Colossae, and he's saying, 203 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:50.480 keep it up. Keep loving people, right? And lastly, he 204 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.640 said he's heard about their hope. Hebrews 6 19 says, we have this as a sure 205 00:11:54.640 --> 00:11:58.480 and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner place. 206 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:02.240 Hope is critical to a believer, right? Because 207 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:08.800 of Jesus, we have hope. The world doesn't, and the author of Hebrews says, hope 208 00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:14.720 anchors us, right? Hope anchors us. The winds of this world, the waves of 209 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.920 this world will try to rock us and push us and 210 00:12:17.920 --> 00:12:21.440 move us around. When suffering comes, it'll push us 211 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:24.720 out to sea. When confusion of the world, of the enemy 212 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.760 comes, we'll get rocked and turned, but if we're 213 00:12:27.760 --> 00:12:31.840 anchored to the hope in Jesus Christ, then we can't be 214 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:36.000 moved, right? So hope anchors us. It keeps us 215 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.520 going, because our hope isn't in things of this world which fade and 216 00:12:39.520 --> 00:12:42.400 pass and are destroyed, but our hope is in something 217 00:12:42.400 --> 00:12:45.200 eternal. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, who's alive 218 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:49.920 today. And Paul heard about the believers in Colossae, their hope, 219 00:12:49.920 --> 00:12:55.280 and he's saying, keep it up, right? Keep walking with hope. Let it anchor you. 220 00:12:55.280 --> 00:12:59.040 After that, he mentions the gospel, which is my favorite thing about Paul is 221 00:12:59.040 --> 00:13:02.800 any letter he writes, he's quick to talk about the gospel. Why? Because he's 222 00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:06.720 God's chosen instrument to spread the gospel. That was his job, 223 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:10.560 and he did it all the time, and he calls the gospel in this passage, he calls it 224 00:13:10.560 --> 00:13:14.960 the truth, right? There's power in truth. There's freedom in truth. The gospel 225 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:19.840 is truth, and he also says the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing, 226 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:24.080 which is encouraging, and let me tell you today, that's still the truth. 227 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:28.080 The gospel is still bearing fruit and increasing around the world 228 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.840 as we speak. So let's make a full circle here. 229 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.280 We open with Colossians 3.17 as kind of the theme verse 230 00:13:35.280 --> 00:13:38.400 for the book of Colossians, this letter written by Paul. 231 00:13:38.400 --> 00:13:41.840 Paul lived this verse out. After his radical conversion, he did 232 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.760 everything in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, 233 00:13:45.760 --> 00:13:50.960 and so can we. So whatever it is that you are doing, wherever you find yourself, 234 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:55.600 whatever job, career, hobby, whatever you're doing, 235 00:13:55.600 --> 00:14:01.360 do it for him. Do it for God. Point to Jesus 236 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.440 for his glory and his name.