Colossians 1:2

Colossians chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. Paul and Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timothy is our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossus. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless to us the reading of His Sacred and Holy Word this morning. There was a minister who was once explaining to a child the story of how Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus. And the minister said to the little boy, well, if you were blind, what would you have asked Jesus for? And the little boy said, well, I would have asked for a nice little dog with a collar and change. to lead me about. Ask for less than he really needed. Those who claim to be Christians often have a wrong view of things. They settle for a guide dog instead of sight when it comes to what constitutes a true believer. Paul, in writing to the Colossians here, provides a rather comprehensive picture in the first part verse 2 of what it means to be a Christian. If you ask the average profession Christian to describe what a Christian actually is, I think you get a far less answer than what Paul says here in our text this morning. This only demonstrates how superficial Christianity is in our day. I want to speak this morning on a description. of a true believer. And the first thing I will mention is this. Are you a saint? Are you a saint? You should realize that saint is a common term for all who are saved? There was a popular TV minister who was asked once to define a saint. And he said, that’s a Christian who has been awarded a medal of honor for courage and brave, beyond the call of duty. Such a statement is quite misleading. For scripture is describing here not a special class of believers, but the whole church is described as saints here. All true believers of saints, even a newborn babe in Christ who has just come to know the Lord. The Roman Catholic Church is so pervers, the term saint that often true believers shy away from it. The word saint means one who is set apart or one who is holy, set apart for God’s use, or holy. From the very beginning, God planned to have a race of people who would serve him. In the Old Testament, find that God said to the Israel, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. I am the Lord your God, consecrate yourselves and be you holy for I am holy. And we find the same thing in the New Testament. Peter refers to those called by God to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people under the Lord. Lord. And like Israel of old, the New Testament believer is told that he which have called you as holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation or behavior in 1.1.16. So if you are a saint, then you’re to be a person who is set apart for God’s use and therefore a holy vessel. How did you become a saint? well, you didn’t become a saint by birth or being fallen in Adam, you are unholy and uncleaned by nature and enslaved in Satan’s service. And just because you were born in a Christian family, that doesn’t make you a saint. You didn’t become a saint by baptism. For an active man cannot take away sin, nor cause you to be dedicated to God. You weren’t made a saint by outward reformation for who can make something clean out of that which is unclean, as Job, the book of Job tells us. You weren’t made a saint by church decree either, for it it is God who made saints and not man. But you were made a saint by God. You were separated by God, and we’ve talked about this. We looked at First Thessalonians three ways. First, by the Father’s election where you were chosen out of the world. Secondly, by the son’s redemption, which you were purchased and cleansed, and you were bought with a price. And thirdly, by the Spirit’s regeneration, where you were called out of the world and set apart for God. Therefore, saints are not those who are sickly sweet souls. purporting to be holier than everyone else, but very common people set apart by God’s grace. That is what a saint is. Now, you should think well of all who profess to be saints or have faith in Christ. You’ll notice that Paul here has never met with the Colossians. This is a group of people that he’s only heard of people. about. And he writes this letter to them. He’s not observed their lives, but he still classifies them as saints. Paul speaks charitably here. He speaks well of all who profess faith at Colossack. He does this repeatedly. If you look at the various churches that he writes, you find this to be the case, even though there are sometimes from pretty bad spiritual flaws in the people that he’s writing. For instance, if you look at the Corinthian Church, he calls them saints as he opens the letter to them. But if you read First Corinthians, you’ll notice that he has to correct right away their divisiveness. He has to correct their misuse of the Lord’s Supper, their carnal living, their pride over spiritual gifts, and so forth. At Philippi, he calls them saints, but he has to tell them be like-minded and don’t do things out of selfish ambition. Friends, we must speak charitably of all those who profess faith in Christ unless their deeds or their lives show them to be ungodly or hypocritical in their faith in Christ. By their fruits, ye shall know them, Jesus told us. Still, Paul expects these Christians, to whom he writes, to be a people that are set apart for service to God and to live holy lives. That’s what he expects them. You know, a baseball player may be on the team. He may wear the uniform, but he may not be the best player. Perhaps he’s a poor hitter. hitting 167. And maybe he makes more errors than the golden glove players on the same team who are rarely making error. But here’s the irrefutable point. He is still indeed part of the team and can claim the title of Major League Baseball player. In the same way, you can be a saint, even though you’re not the best Christian, or even the most mature Christian. So you are to think well of all who profess faith in Christ. You are to have a responsibility, you have a responsibility to live up to your name. Now, if Paul calls them saints here, then obviously he expects them to live in the manner of which they profess to be saints of God. being consecrated to God’s use means you shouldn’t be doing those things that are opposed to that particular purpose. If you are a holy vessel unto God, then you shouldn’t be used for unholy purposes. You shouldn’t be inconsistent with your life. God says, Wherefore come out from among them, the people of this world, and be ye separate, set up, part, saith the Lord, touch not the unclean thing, in 2nd Corinthians 617. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a story entitled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The likable Dr. Jekyll discovered a drug, which when he took it, could transform himself into a different person. He became Mr. Hyde, who was really an evil man devoid of any conscience. and so the same person could be very kind and good at times and then be evil and perverse at other times. Alas, eventually he became stuck as Mr. Hyde couldn’t turn back to the good Dr. Jekyll, the respectable, kind-hearted Dr. Jekyll. Now, as a Christian, you don’t have to be like that. On Sunday you may appear as the good and kind, respectable church member. But then on Monday through Seventh, you appear as the evil Mr. Hyde. That is not to be. You’re always to be separated under God. Always to be a one who lives a holy life. We should have consistency in our life. We’re to be dedicated to God every day of the week 24-7. Are you a saint? Secondly, are you faithful? You must be loyal to Christ. This word faithful, you is usually understood in two ways. You could be full of faith. This is a believer, someone who has faith, or we can take it in the sense of being loyal. I think here it’s probably leaning more toward the idea of being loyal to Christ. You persevere in the faith. You don’t abandon Christ. So you are a true believer. You have a sincere faith, and your faith is constant so that you remain a believer throughout your lifetime. You’re not what we classify as a temporary believer where your faith, you profess faith at one point, but then you fall away. There are people who profess the believers, but in the time of crisis they abandon the faith. Or they let the cares and the pleasures of the world steal their heart away, and they go back. back to the world. They live like the heathen. Peter talks about those who have known the way of righteousness, but then they’ve turned from the Holy Commandment and gone back to what they were before. And he calls them the swine that returns to the mar, the dog, it returns to the vomit. The faithful refuse to do this. They’re steadfast in their commitment. to Christ, they remain loyal. In Pilgrim’s progress, there’s an interesting story where they come upon a land called Ease, this plane. And on this plane, at the end of it, they find a silver mine, and there is Deemis out in front of the mine calling for Christian and hopeful to turn aside and to dig in the mine, and can have riches and be wealthy. And hopeful was thinking, well, let’s go and see. Mr. Christian says, I don’t think we should see. This is not a good idea. We shouldn’t go off the beaten track or the narrow road. And so when they talk to Deimos, he says, well, it’s not dangerous, you can come here and you can dig up. a fortune and so forth, but Christian will have none of it. He says, I know who you are. He says, you are the offspring of Gahazi and Judas. Both men who abandoned the faith sold their souls for money, for wealth or riches. And so they said, we are not going to turn aside. and we’re not going to follow this idea of yours. Bunyan is talking about what happens to those who sometimes profess faith. It’s not genuine faith. What happens that they get sucked in? And the cares of the world or the riches or seeking after pleasure or whatever, the love of money steals away their heart from the Lord, and therefore they’re like Demas, who in the New Testament abandoned the work, of the Lord, went back to the world. And so we must not be like that. We must be loyal to Christ. Now, you should not be a church member unless you are a saint and loyal. Now notice he’s speaking to church members here, and here are two classifications he gives to these people. Well, there have to be a saint, and they have to be loyal to Christ. What God has joined together, saints and loyalty, let not man put Sonder when it comes to church membership. These are people who make up the church. My friends, it’s not just anyone who can come off the street and be a member of the church. There are qualifications for memberships, membership in the body of Christ. It’s not like being a Costco member that it’s open to anybody that comes in and you can get a card and anybody who wants to can do that. That’s not the way the church is. It’s not enough to profess faith in Christ. There needs to be separation from the world. There needs to be a dedication to Christ and a loyalty to him. Lydia said to Paul, if you have judged me faithful to Lord, come and stay at my house. Fellowship was based on her faithfulness to the Lord. So you need a profession of faith of such strictness that it actually rises to the level. here of a holiness of life. When we admit members to the church, our desire should be that they are people who show some type of evidence of being followers of Christ here, being saints, being faithful. Otherwise, all kinds of scandals can trouble the church. In its haste for church growth, I think the church, I think the church often overreact. looks the need to vet those who come into the church. Are they saints? Are they faithful? So are you faithful? That’s a good question. Thirdly, are you one of the brethren? You should recognize that all true believers are brethren. The word brother, of course, gives us the idea of a close family relationship, does it not? We have one master of the Lord Jesus Christ, for one is your master and all you are brethren. 23 in verse 8. If we are, brethren, if we’re all the same family, then love, kindness should flourish toward one another. Brotherly love, the Bible speaks of. This indicates, of course, that we have one father. We are born into the family by a spiritual birth, and we have, God gave us power to become the sons of God. We were born as John 1, 12, 13 tells us. We’ve been baptized into the one universal body by the Holy Spirit. For by one spirit, or are we all baptized into one body? The Bible says, whether we be Jew or Gentile or Greek or so forth. And we’re made to drink into one spirit. Now notice Paul classifies these people as brothers despite the distance between them. He’s never met them. and yet they’re brothers because they have faith in Christ. There is always a universal bond between believers regardless of the distance. Whether somebody is in China or whether they be in the jungles of Africa, it doesn’t matter. If they profess faith in Christ, they are your brother in Christ. It doesn’t matter what their race is. It doesn’t matter what language they have. It doesn’t none of these things affect this idea of being a brother. She should recognize all true believers as brothers. And you should realize that no brotherhood is possible for those outside the faith. If we must have faith in order to be a brother, if we must be separated by God to be a brother, then you just can’t have everybody in the brotherhood and the family of God. We live in a day when there’s this great ecumenical movement. We try to get everybody, all the religions together and so forth. But true believers can have no part in a unification movement because there can be no brotherhood unless it is grounded in Jesus Christ. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous and what communion have light with darkness. What concord hath Christ with Belai or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel with an unbeliever. 2 Corinthians 6, 14, and 50. How can a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Mormon be considered a brother? Do they call Christ their master? If you have one master of your brothers, have these people been grafted in the universal body of Christ? by the Holy Spirit? Have they been given a spiritual birth? Jews will not acknowledge Jesus Christ. Muslims place Muhammad above Jesus Christ. The Mormons deny the deity of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church make the Pope the head of the church instead of Christ elevate Mary as a co-reedemer and co-intercessor. The Bible says about being unequally yoke. that’s a very vivid picture isn’t it you think about an ancient farmer attempting to plow his field do you think he would put a horse and a pig together to plow the field or an ox and a donkey or a bowl and a lamb wouldn’t go too good would it it’s foolish to attempt it and that’s the idea here it just doesn’t go together it doesn’t fit it doesn’t work true fellowship is between brothers and when there’s no unifying factor then it cannot occur. All the ecumenical movement will accomplish is to remove the focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ in worship. And yet you cannot even approach the true and living God without going through the mediator of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what the Bible teaches. Since you’d realize no brotherhood is possible with those outside the true faith. And notice this as we think about the word brethren here, great ought to be the unity among Christians as brothers. How far removed we ought to be as the people of God from envy and animosity and backfighting and division as a church. How wicked it is to rejoice when some evil befalls a brother or sister in Christ. For among brothers, shouldn’t we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice? We never seek the fall of a brother so that we may be elevated ourselves. The more you conform to the biblical truth of brotherhood among believers, the more affection there ought to be among us as believers in Christ. Luther’s friend and helper Melanchthon mourned in his day the divisions that he found among Christians. And so when he met with the Christians, he would tell them a parable. And the parable, and the parable, is about the wolves, the wolves and the dogs. The wolves were somewhat afraid of the dogs because the dogs were so numerous. He said, so the wolves would send out spies to observe the dogs. And on their return, one spy reported this. It’s true that the dogs are many, but there are not many mastiffs among them. Not only big, strong dogs among them. There are dogs of so many swords, one can hardly count them, but the worst of them are the little dogs, he says. The little dogs bark loudly, but they cannot bite. However, this is what cheered me the most, one of the wolves said, that spied out the dogs. As the dogs marched along, I observed they were snapping at each other to the left and to the right. And so while the dogs all hate the wolf, it’s clear that they hate each other also. And so we’ll be okay. This is true. Oftentimes when it comes to Christians. There are many professing Christians who snap to the left and to the right at their brother, and they’re not focused on the true enemy. And so Christians ought to be saving their teeth for the true enemy. And that’s the only way we as the people of God can be victorious. As I think Melanchin was right in his thinking of that way. So are you one of the brethren? And then fourthly, are you in Christ? Because he says here, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ. Now, Paul has described you as saints. He’s described you as faithful. He’s described you as faithful. He’s described you a brother. How did you become that way? How did you obtain these glorious titles? In Christ here implies a union with Christ. And by this union with Christ, you were granted all these spiritual endowments that we’ve been talking about. Every here watching a survey, who is checking property lines where new houses are going to be built. And you’ll notice how carefully he has to be about setting up his equipment in the proper place. He gets the transit out and he’s lining it all up because if he gets off, everything’s going to, he does is going to be off. So the first where he sets it all up has to be perfectly set up so that everything that he, he measures out is proper. So you have to get the exact point of beginning so the surveying can be done properly. If the point of beginning is wrong, the property lines are going to be all out of whack and confused. Houses will be misplaced, and the courts will be flooded with people who are with lawsuits over their property rights. So it’s important that, you know, it’s so important that the builders won’t build unless the survey is done. first. In the same manner, it’s essential to see the point of origin when it comes to these titles that we read about, these Christian titles, they come from Christ. The word saying, how were you set apart for God’s service and holiness? Weren’t you chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world? How did you become faithful? Well, didn’t Christ purchase that faith? you? And isn’t it true that we are preserved in Christ Jesus? Christ shall confirm you to the end? Colossians, or excuse me, 1 Corinthians 1.8. Isn’t Christ the author, the originator, and the finisher, or a completer of our faith? As Hebrews 12 tells us. How did you become a brother? Well, I’ll tell you one thing. There had to be an elder brother, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was the first born among many brethren, as the Bible tells us. And so, in Christ, we’re brothers, were accepted into the family of God, adopted, and accepted in through the beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. You should understand what it means to be in Christ here. You should realize that no religious profession is of any value if it’s not founded upon Christ, union with Christ. If you asked a genuine believer to trace their spiritual origin, they’re all going to go back to Christ. It’s your attachment to Christ, which makes you acceptable to God. You’re not going to speak about what you did to become a saint, are you? You didn’t earn that title, did you? You can’t boast about your belief in Christ’s if the faith originated with you, can you? Isn’t it a grace of it? faith? How did you get into the family of God? What did you do to get in there? The fact of the matter is you were born in the family of God. You didn’t do anything. God did it all by giving you to the new birth. Christ deserves all the praise and the honor, doesn’t he, for your salvation? And the change that occurs in your life. When someone speaks to their faith or religion, watch carefully to see if Christ is given the credit. Are you in Christ? A child hearing of Christ healing of the blind Bartimae has said if he were blind, he’d ask for a little nice dog to lead him about with a little chain and a collar. People often settle for less than necessary, and that is particularly the case in the spiritual one. When it comes to a description of a Christian, we can’t settle for less than what God says here. and this is what he says. He says you need to be a saint, you need to be faithful, you need to be one of the brethren, and you need to be in Christ. And if you’re less than that, you should be in the church. You’re not one of God’s people. Let us close with the word of prayer this morning. Heavenly Father, we bow before you. Mindful the fact that you are the one that has brought us to the faith. You’re the one that has given us these titles, and you have made us what we are. and while we are not yet complete and we’re still being conform to the image of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you’re still working within us to that end, I pray, Father, we may recognize what you have done, and we may be thankful to Christ for that work that you’re doing. We pray that you’d bless us as your people. You’d strengthen us as the church. Watch over us, for our needs and give us your blessing. For it’s in Christ, we ask these things with Thanksgiving. Amen. Now for our final Psalm, Salters, to number 113A.