Sermon – Page 3 – Mt Freedom Baptist Church

On the first Pentecost after Jesus ascended back to His Father, God poured out His Holy Spirit upon the remaining eleven apostles, and they began to prophesy. Peter – filled with the Holy Spirit – preached a short sermon which so convicted those who heard it that 3,000 of them confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior. This amazing event was the birth of the new Church of Jesus through which He continues His work of proclaiming the Gospel of salvation in Him throughout the world. These new believers joined together in fellowship – praising God, praying together, devoting themselves to following Jesus, proclaiming His Word to whomever they could, sharing their food and possessions with one another, and partaking in the two ordinances of baptism and communion which Jesus had commanded for His Church. Consequently, God added to their numbers day-by-day. Since that day, this newborn fellowship of Gospel believers has provided the model for how we today are to “do church” and continue to make disciples in the world as we anxiously await our Lord’s return.

Throughout history, God has placed His Spirit upon various people at various times for His good purposes. We see a good example of this in the book of Numbers chapter 11 when God poured out His Spirit upon the leaders of the clans of Israel in response to Moses’ cries for help. But many years afterward, the prophet Joel foretold that God would one day pour out His Spirit upon all people. The fulfillment of that prophecy came just a few days after Jesus ascended back to His Father on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’ apostles just as He had promised at the last supper, and reiterated just before He was taken up.

Paul concludes his letter to the Colossians with some instructions about prayer. He asks them to pray for him and those who are with him in Rome – not that they might be release from prison, but that God would open doors in their current situation to share the Gospel effectively with those around them. He advises the Colossians (and us) to be specific in our prayers, to always pray with thankful hearts, and to pray always in the Spirit. But he also gives a warning to always be watchful so that we don’t fall into temptations from the spirit of our enemy.

In the last part of Colossians 3, Paul gives instructions regarding our relationships with others – particularly our family members, our employees, and our employers. Over the years there has been a great deal of misunderstanding about this passage – so much so that preachers often simply skip over it to avoid controversy. However, it is really quite simple to understand these instructions. They reflect God’s sovereign design for human society. Jesus is head of all. If men, women, and children simply submit ourselves under His authority and let all our words and actions reflect His lordship over them, the divinely ordained order for our human relationships falls right into line.

A splendid time was enjoyed by all. Tugalo Holler played for us including their popular Old Man Noah song with exotic animal sounds. Adam Hopkins shared a message from Psalm 73, and of course there was barbecue.

Paul continues in Colossians 3 encouraging us to put to death all of the old sinful remnants of our former lives, and in their place to “put on” as one would a garment all of the Christ-like characteristics with which our LORD Jesus has endowed us – particularly Christ’s love for all people, which binds all these Christ-like characteristics together in Him.

Paul begins the third chapter of his letter to the Colossians by reminding them (and us) that those who are “in Christ” – that is, everyone who has proclaimed Jesus as our personal Savior and LORD – have died to our former life of worldliness and sin and are reborn to new life in Christ. Therefore, Paul encourages believers to focus our lives upon Jesus and Heavenly things, forsaking not only our sins, but all the worldly pursuits, pleasures, and entertainments which might distract us from our relationship with Him.

In Colossians 2:6, Paul encourages Jesus followers who have received new life in Christ to “walk with Him.” We will naturally start out just barely able to walk, but as we persevere in following our LORD Jesus, we will eventually learn to run with endurance the race that He has set before us in service of His Kingdom. Along the way, we will encounter distractions – snares set by our great enemy to distract us from abiding in our Christian walk. In the latter part of Colossians 2, Paul warns us about some of these snares – legalism, asceticism, worship of angels, and the “elemental spirits of this world.” Paul encourages us to set such things aside and focus squarely upon the LORD Jesus alone.

In chapter 2 of his letter to the Colossians, Paul encourages Christ followers to continue working on their relationship with the Lord Jesus. Certainly, we can rest assured in our salvation through faith in Jesus’ Gospel, but our new spiritual life in Him should be much more. Paul also tells us of the benefits of growing in the knowledge of our Lord. Of course, we must continue to learn about God through His Word, but even more so, we must cling as closely to Jesus as possible and allow the Holy Spirit to direct us throughout our days – all while remaining intentionally focused on Jesus as Lord over our entire being.

In his letter to the church at Colossae, Paul reminded the Colossians of who Jesus really is – God the Son. Certainly, Jesus is our Redeemer and Savior, but for the true Christ follower, Jesus must be much, much more. He must be our everything – the very center of our entire life. In short, Jesus must be our “All-in-All.” In this video, comedian Jeff Allen shares the story of his own journey out of atheism and alcoholism into a true saving relationship with our Lord Jesus.

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