Month: October 2020

The context is always important. The previous blogs through these chapters set the scene.

The Apostle is telling the Christians in Colossae that Christ is enough. They are to come away from the teaching that you need something else as well as Christ to be acceptable to God. That is not where they are. They have died to those kind of things and have been raised to a new life with Christ. Don’t focus on rules and regulations but on Christ. Let Christ be seen more than your rules of life.

If you view the Bible as a rulebook then you will hate this blog. But if you see the Bible as a place where you encounter God not as a download of information and stuff to do but instead, a place where you are not only encouraged because you learn new things of Him but a place where you weep and struggle and even argue with Him, then that’s where I am at.

We are in a similar place to when Paul wrote to the Ephesians a household code of practice, common at the time of him writing. It reads quite similar.

“Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers,do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” (Colossians 3: 18-24)

Let me join the angry cry!

Should abused women stay with their husbands?

Should children obey their parents who teach them how to steal?

Should slaves even be slaves?

Why doesn’t Paul speak more about what we want him to say? Look at all we know in 2020 surely we need the Apostle to be more denouncing in his words. How helpful that would be.

But of course it isn’t 2020 when he is writing this Spirit-inspired piece of Scripture. He chooses the citizens of lowly status to speak into. Women who are ranked below men; children who have no rights and slaves who are purchased objects. What is he doing?

He is pushing the social boundaries of his day with the aim being the gospel mission, people to find Christ. For example he has already said in v11 there is no slave or free, that itself would have sent many scurrying to the verses of the Old Testament that slaves did not have the same rights as their free Israelites.

In the verses we read today, 5 times the Lord’s name is mentioned. Look at them. Paul is bringing the challenges of his society into the shadow of Christ. How much more should we? Whether that be about slavery or racism or diversity, what does being in Christ and with Christ and following Christ teach us about those terrible things? What would Christ do? How much more should we be pushing boundaries within and outside the Church?

Maybe that’s the point the Apostle is making. Don’t see these verses as a Christian manual for 2,000 years later. I don’t think Paul was writing with that in mind. But see how in the history of faith the Bible speaks into that day.

The Bible speaks today into the difficulty of our day. Let us use it not as a proof-text or to back up the inquiries of our opinions.

Thankfully the Spirit has developed our society and culture since the day of Paul and the Roman Empire. It is our responsibility now to do what the Apostle did to take Christ into the challenges of our generation and to do this with wisdom for the gospel mission.

Who will people see today?

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3 v 15-17)

It is Christ’s peace.

Strict rules and regulations being inflicted on the Church at Colossae did not bring peace. All the customs and traditions, the denials and the strivings to find the ultimate fell short every time. Christ is peace. Nothing else. No one else. Don’t look to the world. You can gain the whole world and you won’t have peace if you don’t have Christ. Your friends may want the very best for you. They want you married, they want you to have children, they want you to have a great job, a house, a car, they want you to be happy, to travel, to experience, to be well. They are good friends. But they don’t understand that the best wish they could ever have for you is that you have Christ. To have Christ is to have peace.

It is Christ’s message

The infiltrators into the Church at Colossae had their message. It was Christ plus. They would have been able to point to the Scriptures (the Old Testament obviously not the New) to back up their message. The message of religion can be very real and can cause a person to commit the most terrible of crimes (as seen in France this last couple of weeks with the Islamic terrorists). If religion’s message can do that then it can at least certainly burden the one who is hearing it. However, there was another message:

The Message of Christ was passed through the communities of the 1^st century Church through the re-telling of the stories and teachings of Jesus and also the Apostle’s letters to the Churches.

And what is the Message of Christ? It is definitely this: “Look what I have done for you. Look who I have made you. Let no one dilute this message.”

It is Christ’s name.

To speak or do whatever in the name of the Lord Jesus is to take something of the very nature of Christ which shows who He is and what He can do. The knife-wielding terrorists in France shouted, “allahu akbar” meaning God is greatest and then did the most evil of acts. That is Satan’s copy of what the Apostle is saying in this verse:-

Whatever it is we do or say we do it with the full consciousness that the presence of Christ is here.

Of course in these verses there is so much more regarding the songs from the Spirit and being thankful to God the Father.

It is a beautiful snap-shot of the triune God.

But I am purposely focusing on Christ through these blogs of Colossians.

May you carry His peace and message and whatever happens may people see the name of Christ in your life.

The Apostle has been clearly saying to the Colossian Church that they should not allow people to think that though they have Christ they need other things too to be accepted by God. For example, extra baptisms, fastings, circumcision, having extraordinary visions and the desires for experiences of angels.

Paul is therefore hardly likely to create his own set of rules. I don’t think he is doing that when he writes, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3 v 12-14)

They look like rules and there are more to come. But I can’t do these, I fail continually. Plus the fact I’m not sure I feel comfortable someone trying to be kind to me because that’s one of the rules and they are trying their best to meet it. “Paul I am going to forgive you because that’s what a Christian has to do. I mean if I wasn’t a Christian you would never get my forgiveness!” I don’t want to see it that way anymore.

So?

Let’s read a beautiful few words from the Message of v12, “dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you.” I love this. These virtues are not the best version of me I can be. They are clothes that God has put out for me.

So?

1. I am chosen by God.
2. My relationship with Christ is all I need.
3. I have died with Him, raised with Him and am above anything that happens in my life.
4. I clothe myself with Christ. It is His compassion, kindness, humility etc. Not mine. Nor some virtue that I have to develop. It is Christ. It is who He is. I represent Christ in every situation. I need to speak with Him, think on Him, study Him, take Him into my day and my one request is that people see and hear Christ in me. Even when life is so difficult and I get hurt I need to let the life of Christ flow through me and I find forgiveness is here.
5. To put on love is not so that love is the subject. Christ is always central to it all. To put on love I put on Christ. I don’t need to worry which virtue is needed in a certain situation. I just need to reveal Christ. When Christ is revealed love is seen for Christ is love. Love does the work of the virtues.
6. So today and every day, my prayer is this:

God in my living, There in my breathing/ God in my waking, God in my sleeping.

God in my resting, there in my working/ God in my thinking, God in my speaking.

Be my everything, be my everything/ Be my everything, be my everything.

God in my hoping, there in my dreaming/ God in my watching, God in my waiting.

God in my laughing, there in my weeping/ God in my hurting, God in my healing.

Christ in me, Christ in me/ Christ in me, the hope of glory.

You are everything.

Christ in me, Christ in me/ Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Be my everything.

I think the Bible shows me how I will never be perfect, that I need saving continually.

I think the Bible shows me that imperfect people can still connect with God.

I think the Bible shows me that how I treat other people is hugely important to Him.

I think the Bible is true in so much as it doesn’t cover over the failures of its heroes.

I think the Bible is a mystery which I don’t understand but it lures me into studying it which takes me away from my own circumstances.

I think the Bible is loving despite its characters at times believing God is anything but love.

I think the central figure in the Bible is God who reveals Himself in the image of Christ.

Why do I say all that?

I have obviously known that as Colossians was written as a prison letter along with Ephesians that we would once again come round to his list of rules.

I wrote about these rules in the Ephesians blogs.

This morning I have been thinking and praying in a different way than I did before.

It makes sense that Paul having told us we had died, were hidden and raised with Christ that he then goes further in effect to say ‘stay dead’. He says, “(1) Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. (2) You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. (3) Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  (4) Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (Colossians 3 v 5-11)

The Message says of v11, “Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.”

The Message helps.

Everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ. Isn’t that amazing?! Isn’t that the most important thing to centre our thoughts on?!

So?

Paul’s lists, how can they be understood 2,000 years ago? What meaning do they now hold for us? Who can definitely say ‘oh this is exactly what he meant when he said don’t be greedy’?

Maybe this helps, note the numbers in the text above and underlined:

1. As you have died with Christ, hidden and raised with Him, you are not where you think you are at times. You are above your circumstances. Stay there.
2. There is a way of life you used to live, don’t be tempted to go back there.
3. Don’t pretend to be someone you are not anymore.
4. Everything now is about Christ, let your life remain so.

You might disagree because you may have been brought up on rules and been taught a God of rules and maybe you are right. But I am finding that my life with Christ calls me not to focus on other people’s interpretation of rules for living but to simply come away from the life I lived. My life with Christ calls me not to focus on being what others want me to be, holy, blameless and a good man but to be who He has made and continues to make me.

I have found my life with Christ is about Him and not me. I feel free in that.

Someone today is waking to a set of circumstances that are trying to define you.

When we feel blessed by God then we feel close to Him and we generally are in a good state of heart and mind. Our emotions are healthy and our thoughts are positive. If you don’t believe me then just wait till the next time God answers your prayer!

What happens when we don’t feel blessed by God?

What happens when others weigh us down with their expectations and instructions?

If you have been reading through these last 2 chapters then you will know why the Apostle says the following, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3 v 1-4)

Christ is above everything.

He is not just above the creation and universe. Water has been found on the moon. Who put it there? He is above the moon and stars. But He is also above what I face today when I don’t think I can breathe anymore, He is my breath.

Christ is at the right hand of God.

He is not a secondary agent of God. A messenger or a prophet. He is God and the image of God that we see and know. There is no other name higher than His name. He has all authority.

Christ is seated.

He isn’t working to create a plan that will save the world. He has finished that work.

So how does this impact you?

This is not the worst day

When your circumstance says this is the most awful thing to happen to me, it isn’t. Terrible that it might be but actually your spiritual death was the worst. You left that behind when you came to Christ.

This circumstance does not have the final word over my life.

People may look at you and characterise you, pigeon-hole you, judge you and malign you even. But this life and the set of circumstances that you are going through are not where your life truly abides. You are hidden in Christ.

The final impact is a shared one.

Christ and you will appear together. This life isn’t it! There is more. A future life where the real you will be and will be made known.

So if today isn’t a great one then don’t look down, look up, as that’s where you actually are.

–

Keeping up Appearances was a comedy series that ran in the UK in the early 90’s. Hyacinth Bucket (or Bouquet as she insisted on) and her long-suffering husband Richard were the central characters. Every story was about Hyacinth trying to appear to be a snob and failing all the time. I loved it and still enjoy any repeats that get shown.

The truth is appearances can be deceiving.

It is possible to look at someone and think they have no problems whatsoever. You can be a friend of someone for many years and not know that behind the scenes they are breaking apart.

I know a man who has spent his whole life trying to fit the mould of other people’s expectations. The pressure-cooker is too much for him.

One of the problems we face is a desire to fit into other people’s norms. Whether that be marriage, having children, having a house, having a good job, being the right shape etc. There are many who strive to tick these boxes. If it’s not to fit in it is so people don’t pity them anymore which is still a form of conforming to other’s standards.

Then if we throw in some religious rules and regulations it all just becomes too much.

The Apostle is tackling the Colossian challenge of forgetting that Christ is enough.

The Message says, “Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they’re just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important.” (Colossians 2 v 23)

Who do you want to be? Someone else or what others want you to be or the very best version of who Christ loves?

If you fall into keeping up appearances then:

1. You will lack joy. There will be nothing left but an ache in your heart because you are not ‘home’.
2. You will be afraid of failure. You will tip-toe around your relationships lest they are upset with you.
3. You will work hard to be someone you already are.
4. You will always come up short. When criticised you will agree and work harder and be better but you know you will never be good enough.
5. You know God loves you but are unsure whether He likes you. Similarly you know people like you but you are unsure whether they love you.

If you serve the legalist:

1. They never look in the mirror. There is no self-awareness. They never apologise.
2. They look at others through a magnifying glass. They pick on the small things of your life for improvement and it makes them feel better than they really are.

The key is this: what has an appearance doesn’t mean it has any value.

Look to Christ and Him alone.

–

Are you trying to be a better person today?

It is exhausting isn’t it?!

People near to you can pressure you to work hard at your image and your lifestyle. They want you to be a certain person for your own good, for society, for them!

Some of those things that they ask you to do may not be bad in themselves. But the reason why you agree to them is very important.

This is the Colossians problem.

The Apostle writes, “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.” (Colossians 2 v 20-22)

Man’s religious rules and expectations for your life may appear that they are to make you a better person and that is why many become trapped by them.

However, ask yourself, is this bringing me nearer to Christ?

Is this making me look more like Christ?

When I died with Christ I gave up the need to prove myself to anyone, so why start now?

The asceticism that focuses on what we are giving up (Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch) rather than why or who we are giving them up for, is pointless.

Paul is not saying religious rules are wrong. We do need disciplines. But he is saying that if it is not flowing out of our relationship with Christ then they are useless.

Those who set such rules know nothing of what it means to die with Christ and to have laid down all our feeble efforts in this life to be someone and achieve something.

So before you agree to a DO NOT ask yourself WHY NOT?

–

( )

Before I begin, I do believe in humility but not so that it gives an inaccurate view of the person’s ability (whether that be over or underestimated).

I do believe in angels but not so that I occupy myself thinking about them and wondering if they will be involved with my life today.

I do believe in the experience of seeing things that others haven’t in terms of visions but not so that others will think of the one having visions as someone special and to be adorned with fame or money.

The Apostle is into the nitty gritty of the Colossian problem. Is Christ enough?

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (Colossians 2 v 18-19)

During this pandemic when Christians have not gathered in their buildings it has exposed something which we have held to as very important: the experience.

• Before the pandemic one minister told me how a member met him at the door to say goodbye and said “we are not feeling God in this place anymore.”
• Many years ago a member in my Church would stand with her hands in the air lost in wonder and praise and then without moving the position of her hands would look around the congregation (I still don’t know whether she was being nosy or wanting people to look at her).
• When members of my church began to be ‘slain in the Spirit’ (an uncomfortable term!) others would come forward for prayer asking not for anything else except that all blockage be removed so that they could also be slain and experience what their friends were having.
• In the 90’s I was privileged to attend a conference in Toronto and experience the Toronto Blessing. Afterwards in comparing notes with friends who were with me or had been before the big question was did the Arnotts pray for you (these were the Pastors).I remember feeling the pressure to say yes in order to fit in. I didn’t. I told them of a very small grandmother figure who prayed for me but that I did indeed meet with God.

Why do I mention all this? It is because during this pandemic what has been dented in Church the most is not the finances, the attendance figures, the fellowship but the supernatural experience/feelings of God, especially if that was an important part of going to Church prior to this.

I am not saying we should not have them. Of course not!

But as we have been told many times for many years: it is His face not His hands we seek. Who He is and not what He gives are more important than anything.

The Church has been and stripped back and maybe that is a good thing.

For Paul he could see the dangers, “they are puffed up”.

The Church doesn’t need to declare how good it is or build their ministries. A Church who is trying to attract people (especially Christians) by an experience or some supernatural activity has lost its mission. The Church needs to reach the lost.

And importantly: the Church needs to keep connected to Christ by faith. There is nothing else whether some activity or experience that will bring the necessary growth and discipleship than basing our whole lives on a walk with Jesus Christ. He is enough.

–

–

A friend once told me how he and his wife were celebrating their anniversary in a hotel they had booked for one night. They were enjoying their meal in the restaurant which involved a very nice wine. They were not big drinkers by any stretch of the imagination but nevertheless they were secret drinkers for the vast majority of their friends were teetotal and viewed alcohol as demon-drink. The couple were enjoying their evening when all of a sudden my friend spotted 2 couples that they knew come into the same hotel restaurant. They only had a split second to decide what to do so my friend said to his wife to do what he did and follow him. He gulped down all the wine and hid the bottle out of sight. They then very quietly tip-toed and walked down the side of the bar and out of the restaurant back to their room. No one saw them. However, because he stood up so quickly and was rushing, the wine seemed to have had a bit of an effect and instead of walking past the bar he had to rest his arm on it to stop the dizziness and slid the whole length creating quite a comical scene! The picture he had created was far worse than the scene if his friends had seen him have a glass of wine in his hands. However, for him, it was worth the risk rather than face the wrath of the judging panel.

Do you fear what people think of you?

After telling the Colossian Church who Christ is and what He has done for them he then brings application and gives us a little insight into their challenges.

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Colossians 2 v 16-17)

Clearly Paul is saying don’t let the opinions of people disturb you or threaten you.

The first century Christians were Jews who started to leave behind some of the Jewish religious laws to do with what was clean and unclean to eat and drink.

Paul is not afraid to help the Church in these matters and in 1 Corinthians 8 spends quite a lot of time explaining that Christians are free from these rules but they must be careful to try not to offend others.

The Colossian challenge seemingly was that false-teachers were impacting the Church with demands that the Christians not only watched what they ate and drank but at the special festivals and the Sabbath that they do not appear joyful and celebratory.

Joy-killers are in every generation!

The Apostle in many places is keen to stress self-discipline and control. To enter a period of fasting is good for the body and our spirit. However, Paul tells them not to listen to those who want to deny and forbid you so that you can be seen to be a more righteous person. These rules that they have known are a shadow of what they have now in Christ. The fullness of Christ is theirs. They don’t need to prove to anyone through ascetic practices that they belong. So don’t fear the opinion of others.

–

Paul has been speaking of their relationship with Christ: ^“continue to live your lives in him,” (v6); “built up in him” (v7); “For in Christ” (v9); “and in Christ” (v10); “In him” (v11); “having been buried with him” (v12).

Being ‘in love’ doesn’t mean you have stopped being who you are. But you are united with that person in a way like no other relationship you have. It is so deep and so powerful that they occupy your mind continually and everything you do is filtered through your thoughts of them.

Even more so with regards our relationship with Christ.

Paul’s ‘in Christ’ and ‘in him’ reveal the benefits of Christ’s life and death flow into our lives. How does that impact our lives? Here is what he says:

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-15)

We are forgiven and we are free.

The fact that we are forgiven means we do not owe God. We don’t have to work hard to please Him. We don’t have to prove we are good enough. Neither do we have to pretend. We do not have to listen to those who want to give us their rules in order to be accepted.

We are in Christ and we are forgiven.

The fact that we are freed means we no longer live defeated. A successful life is not based on what we can achieve but to live in the victory that Christ has already won. It is to live knowing the cross was powerful enough to strip away every ‘power’ that held us back.

We are in Christ and we are free.

People are going in to their day today with a variety of battles. Nigeria is in the news for the battles on the streets. Yesterday at our denominations conference I prayed for the spouses of our ministers who have died this year and how they face their daily battles of loss and adjustment. I have a friend who is going to hospital today for an operation, it is her battle. Many people will face battles. Friends will part company today and face battles of loneliness.

But there is another battle. The battle of being in union with Christ.

It is very easy to feel overwhelmed by past failures. Regrets and wanting to turn the clock back are torture for the mind. It is very easy to be held captive to other people’s demands because of insignificance and lack of ability to be the person you want to be.

When it all becomes too much lift up your eyes to Christ. See what He has done. Know the intimacy of your love relationship with Him. Declare and hold on to the victory that He has gained. Be forgiven and be free.