315 - THE CONFLICT OF OUR AGE
July 24, 1977
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
Colossians 2: 1 - 4 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the my story of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
Chapter two is quite different from chapter one. It is different in its approach, in its appeal. In chapter one he is very positive, he deals with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and showing that Christ is unique in every way. Then he shows the uniqueness if His message which is called the mystery. But now in chapter two, he is very negative. He talks about the great conflict that takes place in this present day and age.
1/ Let us get an outline of the chapter.
Verse 1 - 8 the great conflict that rages in this age.
For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the my story of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.For I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the wold, and not after Christ.
Verse 9 - 15 the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.
For in him dwellers all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. and ye are complete in hi, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, inputting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and he uncircumcision of you flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was country to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of hem openly, triumphing over them in it.
Verse 16 - 23 Satan’s great counter offensive.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, in trading into those things which he hath not seen, daily puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ form the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Tough not; taste not; handle not; Which are all to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.
2/ Now as we look at this great conflict of the age, we see something about the man Paul, about what he is like in his mind. Paul does not often say anything about himself. He is more concerned in telling us about his Lord and truths concerning the Lord. But on occasions he finds it necessary to reveal his inner life. He tells us that his concern for the people that he has led to the Lord Jesus Christ with the grace message. He wants them to see how great a conflict he has for them. I would, is THELL-O and it means desire. He says, I have a desire that we know what great conflict I have for you. Then the word, conflict is very interesting. It is the Greek word AGG-ON from which we get our word, agony and it was used in those days in the wrestling match, or in hand to hand conflict. Then, notice, he uses the word, great in front of it. Then the words, I have for you, means I keep on having.
3/ Some of you have a garden, and after you have prepared the ground, cultivated it, broken it open and sown seeds, you do not merely go back to your house and wait for the rest of the summer for the garden to grow. There is much to be done after the seed has been sown. I am told there is constant work in keeping a garden growing. Paul does the same thing—after he sows the seed of the Grace Gospel, he doesn’t just forget about it. But he writes to them—if it is possible he visits them, or he sends messengers to them. It is necessary for us to see that it is not enough just to sow the seed, the Gospel. That is why God has the local church. It is a necessary follow-up. You may lead someone to the Lord Jesus Christ, but this is not enough. You should try to get them involved in a local assembly where the Word of God is taught. You see people who are saved and then just sit down and study the Bible for themselves get into all sorts of error. They get side tracked so easily, and you see it happening time and time again. And here in the Lycus Valley, gnosticism had come in and Paul did not just want to see them saved, he wanted to see them delivered from this awful teaching that was being propagated here among the three churches in the Lycus Valley. Paul was worried about the danger of these believers being corrupted by false doctrine.
4/ Now he had this conflict for those at Colosse, for those at Laodicea, and for as many that have not yet seen my face. The noun, my face, means more than just looking at Paul’s face. It is the Greek word, PROSS’ – O – PON. Immediately, you recognize the preposition pross, an old friend of ours, and it means face to face, and this, of course, is a key. It means face to face teaching. It is not possible for him to teach them face to face, and so he is writing them this epistle. He is at least 1,000 miles away. Actually, he only knew personally, the pastor, Ephrapis, who came to Rome to see him, Philemon and Onesimus, and perhaps a few others. Those who had come to Ephesus. But most of them he does not know personally and they do not know him. But he says, I can’t teach you face to face, but I am going teach you through this letter.
5/ These folks in Colosse, many of them were standing true, but they were facing gnosticism—a great enemy that has swept much before it, and Paul is saying, I am here in Rome in prison and there is a conflict in me concerning you. Paul wanted the people at Colosse and in the Lycus Valley to have victory as they faced the enemy.
6/ I would like to show you an illustration or something I believe is very important.
Exodus 17: 11—13 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. but Moses hands where heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under hm, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Huyr stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Israel was beginning their march in the wilderness. They had met Amalek, a strong enemy, and there was fighting down in the valley. Joshua was leading the host of the Lord, and in verse 10, we learn that up in the mountain we have Moses, Aaron and Hur. There was victory down in the valley, but it was not Joshua who got the victory, it was Moses and Aaron and Hur on the mountain who got the victory. When Moses’ hand fell. Amalek prevailed, and when Moses’ hands were uplifted and stayed up, God’s people prevailed. It is very hard to hold your hands up for very long. Try to hold your arm up for five minutes, and you will understand the predicament that Moses was in. Moses had something to do that he couldn’t possibly do. You will find it almost an impossible feat to keep your hand up. Yet, to get the victory it had to be done. And praise the Lord, Moses had two helpers who held his hands up. As long as his hands were raised, Israel got the victory, and this is true in the Lycus Valley. They were able to stand true because Paul was in conflict for them. He was fighting against the power of darkness and evil that they might prevail there in Colosse. I am convinced there is not a great preacher anywhere but that folks are praying for them. If you are not praying for me, my ministry, I am sure I will be valueless. We need helpers in holding our hands up to get the truth out.
7/ Verse 2, That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together inn love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of god, and of the Father, and of Christ;
Paul wanted three things in their hearts. (1), that their hearts might be comforted, and I think the best word in English we can use here is the word, encouraged. As they faced the enemy they needed to be encouraged because there was so much that was discouraging about them. (2), Their hearts were to be knit together in love. That doesn’t need much exposition from me. We need to love one another and that goes with encouragement. Love unites. We do not just need love in marriage, we need it in the local assembly.
Remember, I Corinthians 13: 1, 3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a thinking cymbal. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
We are nothing if we don’t love. (3), He wants us to have full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery. Now we are getting down to the heart of the matter. What is the mystery? It is the one that is revealed in Colossians 1: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: …and this is the great conflict of our day—Error VS the mystery. Legalism VS the mystery.
8/ Some of you have asked me, and I am surprised, what is the mystery. What do you mean, Christ in you the hope of glory? The mystery is more than just one thing. Here in Colossians 1: 27 he only reveals one little facet of it. Christ in us the hope of glory.
9/ But let us look at this fact—Christ in us the hope of glory. Someone came to me and said someone pointed out to them John 14: 20 In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. At what day is He talking about? When the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost? Not at all. What is the teaching in this 14th chapter? We need to go back to John 14: 1 - 3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Here He is not talking about the Rapture, but He is talking about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep that in mind that is the thought all the way through here. Jesus Christ is coming back to earth.
10/ Now He says, When I go away, and He is going to come back, He will send the Comforter, and that, of course, was on the Day of Pentecost, the believers were empowered by the Holy Spirit. With that in mind, let us look at verse 20—At that day ye shall know that I am in my father, and ye in me, and I in you.— what day? The Day of Pentecost? Of course not. The day of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when the nation is born in a day. Then ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. Then verse 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. We will make our abode with Him.
That’s when you loved Me, that means the nation. One needs to distinguish between the coming of the Comforter and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in this portion of Scripture. But, we, today have Jesus Christ dwelling in us here on this earth at this present moment, and this is the hope of glory.
11/ Of course, the mystery is more than this. Ephesians 3: 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
It is a joint body made up of Jew and Gentile—no special nation, but one new man. It is the setting aside of Israel, the bringing in of the Gentiles and it is one new body and one becomes a member of this body by being baptized into the Body of Christ.
I Corinthians 12: 12, 13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
AMEN
Ref: 07/24/1977/ 315 - THE CONFLICT OF OUR AGE / 2020
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