Colossians 1:1

The book of Colossians chapter 1, I want to read the first two verses, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothyus, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossack. Grace be unto you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. and God blessed to us His Sacred and Holy Word this morning. There was once a newspaper article about an old carnival headliner whose name was Cannonball. In his younger years, he was blasted out of a cannon over 1,200 times. When asked why he did this, he replied, Do you know what it’s like to hear the applause of 60,000 people? That’s why I did it. Crowd approval motivated cannonball and he kept on going. Many people aspire to church office because they love the approval of the crowd. As they walk across the stage of human history, they parade around in robes of self-righteousness and self-important. Jesus condemned those who would receive honor from men and not seek the honor that comes from God alone. There are many who claim all sorts of religious authority, and they certainly desire human honor. Scripture records, there are those who say they are apostles, and are not and are liars, according to the book of Revelation, chapter 3, or chapter 2 and verse 2. The problem of false apostles persist even down to our own day. People claim all sorts of authority over others, which they do not possess. What a contrast you find with the real apostle. Paul in our text. As he said in Galatians chapter 1, for do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I pleased men, I should not be a servant of Christ. Paul opens his letter to the Colossians by emphasizing in verse 1, his apostleship. He does this not to receive honor from men, but to emphasize his special accoling and his authority so that his teaching might be readily received by the people at Colossack. Paul has not been to Colossack. He did not establish this particular church. We’ll see in verse 7 that this church was established by Apaphras. It’s located in what is known as Turkey today, or Asia Minor in the scripture, where Laodicea is located, and many of the churches in the Book of Revelation. In fact, all of those are located in this grouping of this area, this area where Colossae was also to be found. The gospel preached by Epaphras was under siege, by the Judaism. and by others. And so Paul writes to bolster the faith of these people that he’s never met with. He’s never spoken to or preached the gospel to directly. Epaphras informed Paul of the present state of the church. He at this point is a prisoner in Rome because he has preached the gospel. He writes this epistle because he wants them to do it here to the truth of the gospel. He warns them against following the ceremonies of the law for salvation, warns them against the worship of angels, warns them not to follow doctrines that are based on human tradition, and warns them about listening to those claiming authority over them who were deceiving them. Paul then exhorts them to study the practice of holiness, true holiness, that which is associated with the gospel of Christ. I want to speak this morning on the topic of the authority of church office. Let me begin by saying this. You find God often calls unlikely men to hold church office. and serve him. When we look at the words here that open this book, Paul, an apostle, that is quite an amazing statement in itself, that Paul would end up being an apostle of Jesus Christ. He is a surprising apostle. He is a surprising apostle. people were utterly surprised to find King Saul prophesied. Is Saul among the prophets? Can it be? Well, in the New Testament, the Saul of the New Testament that has that same connection of surprise is of course Paul, who that seems to be his Roman name, but his Jewish name is Saul. Is Saul among the apostles? Can it be that that is the case? Paul himself confessed that he was not meet, he was not suitable, he was not worthy to be called an apostle in 1 Corinthians 159. He readily acknowledges that he is the chief of sinners in 1. Timothy 1.15, and indeed, the least of all saints in Ephesians 3A. He was always conscious of what he had been before his conversion. because he tells us he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, an injurious person. And then Paul was wonderfully saved by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Damascus Road, as we are familiar with. And he began to preach Christ, being the son of God, of the Savior, to those at Damascus. And the scripture says, but all that hurt him were amazed and said, is not this he that destroyed them, which called him? on Christ’s name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent that he might bring them, the Christians, bound unto the chief priest, Acts chapter 11, verses 21 and 22. So fearful an enemy of the church was the apostle Paul that after he was converted, the apostles at Jerusalem were afraid to meet with him, thinking that they were being tricked. And yet this is the man. that is not only put in the ministry, but he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. An apostle was one that God had first said in the church, as the book of 1 Corinthians 1228, indicates of all the officers of the church, the apostle was number one. He says, a surprising apostle. Now, this tells us something about church. officers. The implication which can be drawn from Paul’s apostleship, I think, is important. The great sins committed before conversion and even after conversion, do not always hinder God’s free grace from using such men in the highest offices of the church. For God magnifies his grace in this way. And he demonstrates his power to radically change someone’s life and then use them in a great way. I remind you that David after his adultery was a penment of scripture and wrote Psalms for public worship, Psalm 51, in particular we could think about, which is his Psalm of repentance. He was a teacher of the church. I read about Solomon, who was caught up in false worship. of idols from different countries because of all the foreign wives that he had. And yet, he’s brought to repentance, and he writes the book of Ecclesiastes. And he’s used as a teacher of the church. And, of course, there are many proverbs that he wrote as well. Peter, after his conversion, denies the Lord, blasphemes, purses and yet serves as a chief apostle on the day of Pentecost to preach the gospel of Christ and 3,000 souls are saved. Paul, after being a persecutor of the church and a blasphemer, is made an apostle. And I tell you, if you look at Paul, he wrote about a third of the New Testament as well. He’s a teacher of the church. John Newton. was born in London. His mother was a godly woman. His father was a sea captain. When he was young, he was taught the doctrines of scripture and the way of salvation in Christ. However, his wife, this man, his mother died, Newton’s mother died when he was young. And this good spiritual influence over his life was lost. So he ended up on the ship. with his father, and he was taken to sea at the age of 11. Being among the rough sailors on that ship, the young fellow learned to curse and blaspheme and live a wild and reckless life. He was a complete infidel, steeped in the blackest of sins. He fell into the hands of a slave trader in Africa. and as a captor who was brutally treated, humiliated, beaten, starved. But after many strange and hazardous adventures, he escapes. But he himself ends up being a slave traitor. He made many voyages to Africa in that shameful occupation. However, while he’s on ship, someone gave him a copy of Thomas Acempuses the imitation of Christ. And at one point he became very ill, suffering a severe fever that he picked up in Africa. But through providential experiences of sickness and the reading of scripture and the teaching that his mother gave him that was brought to his mind, he is converted. He’s saved by God’s grace. He’s brought to repentance. He turns from his sins. And lo and behold, at the age of 39, he’s called to be a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Surprisingly, this rough, dirty sailor with a foul mouth, a former slave trader, with an appetite for living profanely, is made a minister of the gospel of Christ. Friends, we never know. who God is going to use and how God is going to take a life and turn it around. Paul, an apostle. It’s almost too much for us to imagine. This man becomes an apostle of Jesus Christ. You find God often calls unlikely men to hold church office and serve him. Now, secondly, you should reject any claims to apostolic church office today. you’ll notice it’s Paul and Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. It’s important that we understand the qualifications of an apostle. Apostle of Jesus Christ is one who is directly commissioned by Christ himself. If you look at the book of Galatians with me, chapter 1 and verse 1, you’ll notice Paul, Paul puts this. a little more clearly because he gives the negative as well as the positive. Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the death. To be an apostle, you had to be directly commissioned by Christ. We know the apostles were, because Christ called them out specially for that purpose and sent them out to preach the gospel. Paul himself was also directly commissioned by Christ to preach the gospel and be an apostle. In order to be an apostle, he had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection of Christ. Now in John chapter 20, we see the disciples saw Christ after his resurrection. He appeared among them on the first day of the week. Remember how he told Thomas, oh, put your finger in my side. put your finger in my holes in my hand and your hand in my side see if it’s not me. They saw the resurrected Christ, and so did Paul on the Damascus Road. Now this is important. Apostles must be able to testify by personal experience that Jesus Christ arose from the dead. Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Christ? is what Paul argues in. In 1 Corinthians 9-1, he has seen the resurrected Christ. You have to have direct personal instruction of the gospel by Christ to be an apostle. Now, of course, the disciples were directly taught of Christ. And you notice from Luke 24 that he went through the law and the Psalms and the prophets and taught the disciples and taught the disciples. things concerning himself, Jesus Christ. So that they were personally instructed by Christ. And of course, you’ll notice in the book of Galatians again, chapter 1, verses 11 and 12, that Paul says this, but I certify, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation. of Jesus Christ. He had direct communication from Christ concerning the gospel. Apostles were gifted with the power to work miracles and impart supernatural gifts to people. Now, we know the disciples went out and healed all manner of sick, and they cast out demons. And we know that Paul, also, according to Scripture, was given power to heal. at times. Look at the book of Acts chapter 19 if you would in verse 6. Acts chapter 19 and verse 6. Here in verse 6, we see that when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. Just as John and Peter went up to Damascus and was able in John 8 to heal, or to give the Holy Ghost. I’m sorry, they went to Samaria. They were able to give the Holy Ghost to the people that were there. You see, Paul has the power to give the Holy Ghost here and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Look at verses 11 and 12 of chapter 19 also of so God brought special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his were brought under the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and evil spirits went out of them. So that he had these powers too. Of course to be an apostle, one must be set apart by God alone. it was by the will of God that he was set apart. What does this mean? Remember God said that was a chosen vessel unto him to bear witness before you have to be was a chosen vessel under him. You have to be directly ordained by God and not selected by men. You remember when the apostles when they were going to replace Judas in the book of Acts chapter 1 and they selected two men to be in that position. They didn’t vote on them. This was an apostleship. They had no right as they would with an elder. But they had no right to do that with an apostle. So they cast lots to see which one God would choose. It’s not by the will of man. An apostle does not derive his authority, his power or his doctrine for men. He is invested with it by God alone. He carries out the will of God. If he is an apostle by the will of God, he is carrying out the will of God in reaching reaching out and teaching others. So here are the qualifications of an apostle that what apostle must have. Now, receiving the Apostle’s message as God’s word is important. As we read in 1st, Thessolians chapter 1, when Paul taught they didn’t receive it as the word of men, but as it was in truth, it was the Word of God. He’s doing this by the will of God. He’s doing it from God’s authority. Now understand the Apostle, Paul’s apostleship, coming by the will of God. Still serves a great purpose today. Looking back on Paul’s life, who was a persecutor of the church, he was a blasphemer, he was the least of all saints, he was the chief of sinners. Why should you listen to his message? Why should we listen to anything he has to say? Because his message as an apostle comes by the will of God. His, this teaching is that you may not esteem God’s word according to the worth of those who bring it. Because if we evaluated the worth of the Apostle, Paul, we might look on him and say, well, this guy really has a lot of black marks in his past. Why should I listen to him? you know, one of Satan’s comment tricks is to diminish reverence for God’s word by placing before your eyes the imperfections of the messenger. Now, it is certain of the apostles, as well as common elders are flawed individuals. We are frail vessels in many ways. What is there in those whom God has ordained to be the ministers of his word? who is Paul and who is Apollus? they’re just messengers. They’re messengers. But they’re conveying the will of God. Paul writes, but we have not this treasure, the message of God. concerning Christ, in earth and vessels, as man is made of clay, that the excellency, we have this treasure in earth and vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We must learn to accept the preaching of God’s word as coming from God himself. We must get beyond the messenger because he has his flaws. He has his weakness. He has his weakness. and see if it is not the will of God that is being proclaimed before you. Though all messengers are unworthy of the honor of proclaiming that message. God saw fit to use weak vessels. He could have used angels. Holy, righteous, glorious, mighty. No, he uses weak vessels. men with all their flaws, fallible men, unless directed by the Holy Spirit, to convey the will of God. Ignore them the weaknesses and even the contemptableness of the messenger. Remember how the Corinthians said about Paul while his speech isn’t too good, his bodily presence is weak. You know, his speech, I don’t know if he has speech impediment or whatever or stuttered or what. but he wasn’t maybe the best order in the world. Did it matter? What was important here was the message, that he was actually delivering God’s message. And so receiving the Apostle’s message as God’s word is important. Now, the nature of an apostle here precludes any apostolic succession. What an apostle. Then we will not easily be fooled, but those who say there are in that position today. The Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church both say apostles are still around and will be till the end of the world. Supposedly, there is an unbroken line of apostles from the early church to today. And that therefore people can speak with the same authority as an apostle did in New Testament times. Peter is classified as the first pope of Rome, and the bishops of Rome are considered the successors of Peter, according to Roman Catholic Church. However, such a claim cannot be proved. The historical record is wrapped up in an impetrable fog of silence. There is no conclusive evidence that Peter was ever in Rome. let alone at any time served as a bishop at Rome. So the argument that Peter had successors in the Apostolic office is built on unstable sand, mere conjecture and not fact. The Apostle office of Apostle ceased when the last Apostle died, which seems to be John, the Apostle John, who died around 100 AD. The church today has the same duty as the Church of Ephesus in the book of Revelation. In chapter 2, verse 2, it says, thou hast tried, you’ve tested them which say they’re apostles and are not, has found them liars. We have the right to test those who claim to be apostles and see whether it is so. Let us examine the claims of apostolic succession carefully. Have you seen Christ in the flesh? I’d like that answer. Have you been directly commissioned by Christ himself for this office? Are you and I witness of the resurrected Christ? Were you given direct personal instruction concerning the gospel by Jesus Christ? Were you in that situation? Where are the miracles? Where are your powers to heal? To cast out the demons. To give the Holy Spirit, in the sense of the gifts of the spirit to others. Let me ask you something. Were you set apart to be an apostle by God alone or do you have a bunch of bishops voted you in to that position? Those are the questions that need to be asked of those who claim. to be an apostle today. Is your message given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that it could be considered scripture like Paul’s writings? Peter says that Paul’s writings are scripture in the end of 2nd Peter, Chapter 3. I would like anyone who dares to claim to be an apostle meet those qualifications today. Because I think they would be found to be liars. Robert Lewis Stevenson had a story about a a veiled Muslim prophet who portrayed himself as a great light to the people. And he wore a veil over his face, he said, because his countenance was so glorious. They were sort of like Moses coming down from the mountain. He had to hide the glory of the face. Well, as time went on, the veil, of course, got tattered and decayed, and one day it fell off while he was speaking. Everybody saw that he just had an ugly old face and that’s all he had. Not a glorious one. The veil came away. and friends, eventually the veil falls off people. They can hide behind a veil and say how glorious they are and what position they have and what authority they have. But eventually the veil’s going to have to have to come off. And you’re going to see whether there’s the glorious character of someone has been on the mountaintop of God himself or whether they’re a fake or a fraud. You know, when the Pope speaks, ex-cathedral. When he speaks as the teacher of the church, he’s supposedly to be infallible. For many years, we find the church of Rome were devoted to a person named Philomena. She was supposedly a saint. Pope Leo the 12th proclaimed her a saint. She was supposedly a third-century martyr who died under the emperor of Dioclete. The only basis, of course, for her sainhood was a dream by a nun. That was the best they could come up with. Years later, after people had been praying to her for, I don’t know how long, it was all shown to be a hoax. And the Roman Catholic scholars were finally compelled to acknowledge there never was such a person as Philomena. So the infallible guides, the popes, have been encouraging people for years to pray and to invoke the figment of someone’s imagination who never existed. As someone aptly put it on newspaper heading, they have dismissed so many alleged saints down through the years. He put it this way, when the saints go marching out. So you can be a saint one day and not the next. But one of the most embarrassing examples of fallible pulse, of course, is the story of Galileo. Galileo, the famous astronomer, scientists clashed with Rome because those in ecclesiastical power rejected his premise that the earth went around the sun. Galileo faced an inquisition under Pulp, Urban, the 8th, and under the threat of death, was forced to deny what he knew to be true. Galilea’s works remained on the list of forbidden books in Roman Catholic Church until 1830s. And of course, everyone today acknowledges the fact of the earth jarvels around us on. You should reject any claims to Apostolic Church office today. We see the qualifications. We see that we receive the Apostle’s message as the Word of God because he is called to this office by the will of God and presents to us the truth concerning God but we must realize that this office has now ended. There’s no one else that can take its place. Thirdly, you find the Apostle, as the greatest church officers often need assistance. And Timothy, or Timothy is, our brother, is mentioned here. Paul’s helper, Timothy. Timothy’s not an apostle. He’s not classified as an apostle. He’s classified as a brother. He’s called a brother first because of the Christian relationship he had with Paul and the church. They were all brothers in the sense of being of the same father. They were born from above. They were regenerated by God. And they belonged to the same family, the household of God. Secondly, Timothy was a brother in the sense of being a companion, a fellow soldier, and a fellow laborer in the gospel along with Paul. Timothy was actually from the region where Colosset was located and therefore was well known. to the Christians in that area. Paul doesn’t despise Timothy because he is of lesser but he gives him a rightful place right alongside him. Timothy did not this epistle. may have written it out, let’s put it that way, but he didn’t didn’t actually write it. Paul was the was the author of the epistle. but Paul sees him as a valuable asset. Paul commends Timothy to those believers as a fellow laborer in the gospel because he preaches the same truth as the apostle himself. Now notice here that the most eminent officers of the church should not despise the common ordinary believer, the brother in Christ. Paul’s example shows the need to give due respect unto all those who are part of the Church of Christ. Any who offer assistance in the work of the gospel of Christ. Even the lowliest Christian is needful to the cause of Christ and can prove useful to the kingdom of God. You may reach people that I could never reach, who would never come under the preaching of the gospel, but you, by your contact and by God’s providence, are placed in a position to reach that individual. The church is said to be one body of many members. We can’t say to the finger or the hand, I don’t need you. Every part is necessary. We need one another. So find your niche and serve Christ by assisting those who are maybe more prominent in the church and are all the offices of the church. Never think of yourself as useless. Never think of yourself of little value. You’re greatly needed, regardless of your place in the body of Christ. I read about a traveler en route to India who was very sick on the ship one evening, and so he remained in his cabin, but he heard the cry, man overboard. Now, too weak to go on deck and try to help out himself, he thought, what could I do? How could I help? So he took his lantern, and he held it up to the porthole. I thought, well, shine some light out of the window. Maybe that will be of help. In half a minute, he heard the joyful cry, it’s all right, he’s safe. The next day, he was told that his lantern was the sole means by which the man who had fallen overboard was saved. His timely light illuminated the man, and they threw a rope to him, and were able to pull him back onto the ship. Like that ill traveler, asked yourself, what can I do? It may not be much. Can you shine the light in the window? Can you find anything that you can do for the cause of Christ that would be proved vital for the kingdom of God? You may not preach, but you can pray. You may not be able to actively serve, but you can give to support the church. Remember, you can always encourage other Christians. You can always provide some kind of aid, some kind of aid, somewhere along the line. People are often motivated by crowd approval and cannonball and the carnival. That’s what he was all about. There are people in a religious realm that that’s all they’re about is crowd approval. But that’s not the reason we ought to be in church office. We ought to be in church office to serve Christ. He’s an apostle of Jesus Christ. Our text tells us this. That God often calls unlikely men to hold church office and serve him. That you should reject any claims? to Apostolic Church office today, knowing that there are no apostles anymore, and the greatest church officers need assistance. We see those principles from our text. Well, let us close with a word of prayer.