Colossians – Mystery (notes)

Colossians – Mystery

When Jesus Rose He gave gifts to the church for the purpose of building up the church.

God Reconciled Us

• In order to present us holy in His sight.
• Without blemish.
• And free from accusation.

Colossians 1:23

• If you continue in your faith.
• Established and firm.
• Not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel.

Paul Suffered

• In the ministry.
• When God calls a person to serve the church in leadership it will involve many blessings but at the same time much pain, sorrow, loneliness, brokenness, misunderstandings, betrayal and slander from those you serve.

Lets Look

• At the heart of today’s message.
• The mystery of the Good News.

We Need

• The Spirit of wisdom and revelation to understand the mystery.
• Is what God desires His people to possess. Eph. 1:15-18

The Purpose of the Spirit of wisdom & revelation is so we might get to know God more intimately.

Jeremiah 33:3

Great & unsearchable things in the O.T. is the same meaning as the Word Mystery in the N.T.

When We Seek God

• We will be given a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ.
• We will then be given insight into the mysteries of God.

The Holy Spirit

• Reveals to every believer truth for the present time, situation and circumstance.
• Has revelation to every believer, not just the those in leadership.
• Will take the veil off the church in order to see what He is doing at the present time.

Revelation

• Enlarges the arena that our faith can function in.
• Deception shrinks our area of faith. Matthew 13:10-11

Revelation Is

• Locked up in the realm the Bible calls mystery. A mystery cannot be hunted down and trapped like an animal. It must be revealed by the Holy Spirit.
• Given to those who hunger for Him and He will reveal the mystery.

Jesus

• Said He concealed truth in parables so it remained a mystery to some, but not to others.
• Doesn’t take pearls of revelation and freely throws them out to anybody. We must hunger for it, dig for it, seek, knock and ask.

Mystery

• Is not something most people in our Western Culture appreciate. We have the idea that God knows our address and if He wants us to have insight or an experience He will send it to us.

The O.T. Word

• For mighty is the N.T. word for mystery.
• The picture is something that is out of reach, unattainable, behind a fortification.

God has mighty, mysterious things for us. He does not desire to hide them from us but we must hunger for Him and dig into His Word and it will be given to us. Jeremiah 33:3

Jeremiah

• Uses the word to call out which means cry out to the Lord in a very loud voice. The deep part of man calls out to the deep part of God; that determines the level of revelation we will be given.

If We Seek Him

• With all our heart we will be given mysteries of the Kingdom.
• These mysteries will propel us into a whole new relationship with God.
• We will see Jesus in a whole new light and His glory will transform us from glory to glory. I Peter 1:2-3

Colossians – Mystery

Colossians – Mystery this message was given on 4-27-08

Colossians – Restoration (notes)

Colossians - Restoration

Paul Was A Great Intellectual

The revelations that Jesus gave him still amaze scholars today.

Paul Loved

• The church and here he knew Jesus would have to restore the church and all creation someday.

Restoration Means

• The return of something that was removed, or the restoring of something to a former condition. Something that gives new strength or vigor.

The Process of Restoration:

1. It started in Jesus when the Father’s pleasure of all the fullness to dwell in Jesus.

2. Jesus reconciled us to God.

Why Did Everything Need To Be Reconciled?

• Because when man fell all of creation was put into a tailspin of decay and death.

Romans 8:18-23

1. The sufferings of this present time are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us.

2. For even the whole creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].

Paul’s Revelation

About restoration:

1. All living things died because of man’s sin! Why?

2. Because man was given dominion over creation and when he sinned creation was affected.

3. Jesus died to restore man, and the result will be the complete restoration of nature.

Romans 8:20-23

Nature was subjected to frailty, not because of some some intentional fault on its part.

1. Man was the reason for the frailty of nature.

2. So the whole creation has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now, and we too groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies.

So Romans Tells Us:

• Creation (nature) is waiting for everything to be restored back to its state of perfection and sinlessness.
• It will be a glorious time when God restores nature to a state of perfection and glory. Man will be full of the glory of God.

The Church

• Will be restored to a glorious state before Jesus returns. He is coming for a glorious church without spot or blemish. Eph. 5:27

A World Wide Restoration

• Of the people of God is going to take place before Jesus returns for His bride.

Now

• He has reconciled us by His body through death to present us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if we continue in our faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel.

Colossians – Restoration

Colossians – Restoration this message was given on 4-20-08

Colossians – Prayer Power (notes)

Colossians - Prayer Power

Paul Was A Man Of prayer

• He doesn’t boast about his prayer life, it flows out of a man who understood the power of prayer.

Paul Loved

• The church and here he is so excited about hearing about the Colossians that he says he never stopped praying for them since the day he heard about them. Col. 1:9

Paul Prayed

That God would fill them with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom & understanding.

Paul Prayed

That they live a life worthy of the Lord and to please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.

Paul Prayed That

• They might have great endurance and patience.
• They might joyfully give thanks to the Father who had qualified them to share in the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of light.

What Is Our Inheritance?

1. Salvation.
2. Heaven.
3. Freedom from darkness.
4. Healing.
5. Renewed mind.
6. Transformation (gloriously).
7. Privilege to preach the Gospel.

Paul’s Revelation

Jesus rescued us from

• The dominion darkness and brought them into the Kingdom of the Son He loves. In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus rescued us from the dominion of darkness

What we had?

1. A miserable life.
2. A life of despair.
3. A life of bondage.
4. An empty life.
5. A dark life.
6. A defeated life.

How We Come Into His Kingdom?

1. We are born of the Spirit.
2. We start to read about Him in His Word.
3. We develop relationships with other believers.
4. We share our faith with the lost.
5. We grow.
6. We serve in His church.

The Supremacy of Jesus

• He is the image of the invisible God.
• By Him all things were created.
• He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.
• He is the head of the body, the church.
• So in everything He might have the supremacy.

Jesus Contains All

• The fullness of God and by His death & resurrection He is able to reconcile all things.

What is all things?

• Everything man lost in the fall in the garden. The most important being our relationship with God.

Now

• He has reconciled us by His body through death to present us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if we continue in our faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel.

Colossians - Prayer Power

Colossians – Prayer Power this message was given on 4-13-08

Colossians - Seek God’s Face (notes)

Colossians - Seek God’s Face

Colossians Starts With

• Paul, an apostle.
• A called messenger, called to new places to establish the church where there is no Christian witness.

When Jesus rose, He gave gifts to the church.

1. Apostles

2. Prophets

3. Evangelists

4. Pastor/teachers

All Over The World

• This gospel is bearing fruit and growing.
• The gospel is expanding every day all over the world.

To The Holy & Faithful

• God honor holiness and faithfulness in the church.

The Colossian Church

• Was the least important to which any letter of Paul is addressed.

Notes

• Grace & peace.
• Grace is undeserved favor.
• Peace is shalom. Peace in the midst of anything around us.

Faith & Love

• Spring from: the hope that is stored up in heaven for us.

God Desires

• The people of God to seek His face in this hour.

Lets Seek God

• Because of who He is not for what we can get from Him.

Colossians - Seek God’s Face

Colossians - Seek God’s Face this message was given on 4-6-08