David Pawson - COLOSSIANS

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THOUGHTFUL THOUGHTS  20.2.26 BY JOHN DUNNING… 

St. Paul’s Letter to the COLOSSIANS.

INTRODUCTION…

Last time we mentioned Lydia’s gift of money to help Paul who was in real need. That money also enabled Paul to write to the Colossian Christians as well as to Philemon.

So I think it is fair to say that Lydia’s gift enabled Paul to write part of the New Testament.

Paul dashed this letter off, to take advantage of someone taking a letter to Philemon, so I suspect that he used Onesimus as postman, as Paul had asked him to return to his master, Philemon in Colossae with this letter to the church, at the same time that he took Paul’s letter to Philemon. As Philemon lived in Colossae, all that makes sense.

This week’s study is prepared in such a way that it can be used for Bible Studies… which all leads up to knowing how we can know God’s will…

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A). THE WORLD GETTING INTO THE CHURCH…

Because the Colossian religious leaders ignored the Holy Spirit, the church filled the hole with religiosity by observing calendar anniversaries and superstitions. They created rule after rule, including even requiring church leaders to be single men. (Remember Peter was married and Paul taught marriage to be God’s creation. After Paul dealt with that man-made religious rule in his letters, Popes would later require that again, in the form of Catholic requirements for clergy celibacy, ignoring St. Paul’s teaching.)

B). GETTING RIGHT WITH GOD, FIRST…

Colossians can be divided up like this;- 

Paul didn’t “found” this church, so he starts off in this way;-

1:1-12 = an introduction with thanksgiving - and acknowledging people…

1:13-23 = Paul reminds them of the basics;- 

                The supremacy of Jesus Christ and reconciliation with God.

1:24-29 = Paul then introduces himself and speaks of sacrificial service, which means Paul never charged them for being their pastor, which he tells us about elsewhere…

2:1-3 = Paul teaches the love that should be shown by God’s true workers.

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C). GOD HATES THE RELIGIOSITY OF RELIGION…

a). 2:4-5 = Religious people with their traditions are deceptive.

b). 2:6-7 = Paul encourages them with an appeal;- appealing to them to remember their calling. Paul puts them back on the right track.

c). 2:8 = The traditions of men are deceptive, Paul repeats this as it’s so important.

d). 2:9-10 = Paul encourages them to remember Jesus Christ.

e). 2:11-23 = There are to be no more observances of days, calendars, festivals or the old law. Legalism is now forbidden. We are free from the religion of observing any and all dates, times and seasons. Religion is out! 

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2:16 is even more pointed. Paul pours contempt on the observance of religious festivals and even on “Sabbath Day observance”, as the New Covenant replaces the law of Moses. This was a big deal for a man who had once been a Pharisee - like Paul - to speak of canceling “Sabbath Day observance” - which was one of the 10 Commandments, yet and yet that is what Paul says in 2:16. We can’t grasp what a big deal it was for him to say such a thing. Now there is total freedom from observing sabbath days, v.16, let alone events and seasons. 

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Yet we have created our own anniversaries…

i). Pope Gregory used the holiday for sun god worship in England as a time to celebrate the first coming of Jesus the Messiah, which we call Christmas, instead of the real time of the Jewish holiday of Tabernacles. Messianic Jews know all this. 

ii). Another Pope Gregory used the pagan holiday of the German goddess called “Eastre” as a tool to celebrate what we now call Holy Week, or “Easter”, in order to avoid the real anniversary of Passover, because he was so antisemitic. In order to ensure the Catholic church never celebrated at the right time of a Jewish festival, he created “The Gregorian Calendar", which we still use today. 

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Many will say that they agree but Paul goes further in v. 2:16, where he says, don’t observe the calendar at all. It’s just religion all over again.

Sunday was brought in by the Roman Emperor Constantine to replace the Jewish Sabbath. 

I used to do shift work on Sundays at an airport for many years, so it's just as well that it doesn’t matter anymore. 

I say all that in spite of my Anglican father having once been a chairman of the Lord’s Day Observance Society and he fought for Sunday to be treated as if it were like a Jewish Sabbath, which is a non-sense in the light of v. 16. Well, read what Paul says in verse 16 for yourself to see what you think.

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D). WHAT GOD DOES WANT IS HOLINESS…

3:1-17 = Holy Living… What God wants is a holy lifestyle.

3:18-4:1 = Rules for married life. Right living was to be lived out in a certain way in the home.

4:2-6 = Praying and speaking in the right way…

4:7-18 = Paul notices individuals - which God also does…

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E). EPILOGUE - How can I know God’s will?

Colossians 3:15 tells us “Let the peace of Christ be the umpire in your hearts…”. 

If your Bible says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart”, that is not the best translation. The Greek word used here is “umpire”. An umpire is someone who tells you what is correct and what is not. What this means is that God uses His peace to tell you what is correct and what is not. That needs us having devotional times with God, to listen to Him… and not just to tell Him what you want Him to do for you, so read the book.

Do share this study with your friends…

There is a true movie about a potato farmer in South Africa who found faith in Jesus, at this link… 

This is John Dunning signing off from “Thoughtful Thoughts” for another week.

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If you would like to know how to find peace with God, listen to the podcasts at this link…

https://www.inspirational.org.nz/pages/johns-devotionals-podcast

This link takes you to our devotional https://blog.inspirationalmedia.org.nz/

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