Semper Paratus – Be Vigilant

Posted on August 17, 2016August 8, 2016 by chgruver

So his week we are looking at this concept of being prepared as Paul instructed the Colossian church. Last time we saw the reason and way we are to be prepared, so that we can continue to grow spiritually and not be led away by false teachings. Today we will look at how in being prepared we also need to be vigilant. Colossians 2:8-10 reads, “Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ. For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

Vigilance

Paul starts out this section with a warning, he tells the Christian to “Be careful that no one takes you captive.” There is a reason Paul uses military terms, that is because we are in the midst of a spiritual war. Paul tells us we need to be vigilant, we need to be aware and watchful of any attacks of the enemy; why so that we are not taken captive. You see Satan is looking for ways to capture believers, often by leading them astray due to them not being vigilant to his tactics. It is said that cults do not reach for the lost, rather they go for the immature Christian and lure them in, because they lack the vigilance to notice they are being taken “captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.”

So how are we to be vigilant? We need to be grounded in the Word of God, for that is the source of truth and where our faith is established. As we root ourselves in the Word of God we find ourselves able to discern when we encounter teachings that are not Christ centered and thus teachings that should be avoided.

Proper Teaching

Paul then presents the reasons why the teachings of the Gnostics and other false teachers is not beneficial to the believer. “For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” Paul is essentially telling the Colossian church that Christ, being God with us, had the nature and attributes of God. This was contrary to what the Gnostics taught. But it didn’t stop there, through faith we share in that fullness; by this we grow not by adding to Christ but by Christ fills us with the Holy Spirit. So in being vigilant we need to constantly ask of teachings, where does it place Christ, does it keep Christ at the center or does it say we need something other or in addition to Christ? If it takes away from who Christ is and what He did then flee from it.

Semper Paratus – Be Prepared

Posted on August 15, 2016August 8, 2016 by chgruver

Semper Paratus the motto of the US Coast Guard means to always be ready, this concept is also one that Paul impresses on the Colossian church regarding to stay true to the faith. The first thing that Paul lets the Colossian church know is that they cannot just be stagnant, they can’t just sit around and wait for issues to come up and only react then. This is just like the Coast Guard, they do not sit around and wait for a call to action regarding a rescue at sea, but they are constantly working and keeping their skills honed so they can be the most effective when the need arises. In Colossians 2:4-7 we read, “I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.”

Why Should We Be Prepared

The first thing that Paul mentions is our need for being prepared. “I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.” This is why as Christians we need to be prepared, we need to be constantly in the word and prayer, Satan will use extremely appealing words and arguments to draw us away from our faith and make us less effective as Christians. So you see it is not a question of if, but when we will face arguments and logic used in a way to lure us away, that is why as Christians we need to be prepared.

How Should We Be Prepared

Once Paul instructs on the need for being prepared regarding our faith he illustrates how it looks to be prepared. The first example Paul uses is that of the military. When Paul in verse 5 talks about order and strength, he is using military terms in relation to the actions of soldiers on the battle field in that they know where to be positioned and to be ready to face the enemy, as Christians we need to be prepared with similar discipline and obedience.

The next three illustrations regard the role of faith in our lives. The first is that of a journey in which we are to walk by faith. Despite what the Gnostic teachers claimed the Christianity starts with Christ and by faith and must continue with Christ and by faith. Then there is the tree, where we as believers not only need to walk in faith but be rooted in faith. Just like a tree that has good and healthy roots will thrive so will our Christian life as long as we are rooted in our faith in Christ. Finally there is the building, when we have a solid foundation through our faith in Christ we can then grow spiritually.

The final two illustrations Paul uses are that of the school and a river. With the school we need to remain faithful to what we have been taught. As Christians we need to hold fast to the truth of the Word of God, it is through the Bible that we learn of and come to faith in Christ. Unfortunately just as the Gnostics did in Paul’s day there are those that deny the truth of God’s Word. Then with the river as we grow in our faith we find ourselves with a great desire to praise God, even to the point where it bubbles out of us much like a river overflowing its banks.

As Christians we are constantly in the midst of a spiritual battle, and we have been given the tools and the training needed to get through. The only problem is that many of us neglect to use what we have been given and wait for the bullets to start flying pas our head before we react. Rather Paul explains we need to be prepared, we are better off if we are ready for the attack rather than to be surprised by it blindsiding us.

Table Talk- Episode 56 – Rocking Horse Christians

Posted on August 4, 2016August 4, 2016 by chgruver

July 29, 2016: This week Fritz led the discussion by talking about spiritual growth and how many Christians tend to stay in the early stages.

Table Talk is a weekly gathering of men in the Pinellas Park area from different denominations and backgrounds. We meet every Friday morning from around 6:30-8:00 at the Egg Platter restaurant. It is located at 6767 US Highway 19 North in Pinellas Park. If you happen to be in the area feel free to come out and join us for a time of fellowship and Bible study.

Table Talk – Episode 55 – False Teachers and False Prophets

Posted on July 28, 2016July 26, 2016 by chgruver

July 22, 2016: This week Fritz took the lead as Pastor Sam was out for a Memorial Service. We ended up talking about false teachers and false prophets and how it is important to be rooted in the Word.
Table Talk is a weekly gathering of men in the Pinellas Park area from different denominations and backgrounds. We meet every Friday morning from around 6:30-8:00 at the Egg Platter restaurant. It is located at 6767 US Highway 19 North in Pinellas Park. If you happen to be in the area feel free to come out and join us for a time of fellowship and Bible study.

Prayer of Brotherhood – Salvation

Posted on June 24, 2016June 16, 2016 by chgruver

So we have been looking at Paul’s prayer regarding the Colossian church as found in Colossians 1:9-14 and last time we ended with how as believers they should be giving thanks to God when strengthened for endurance and patience. Paul also goes on to mention other reasons that as a believer we should be giving thanks. If you look at Colossians 1:13-14, “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.” Paul points out four things that as believers we should be thankful for besides being enabled to share in the inheritance that we will receive as believers, we were rescued, transferred, redeemed, and forgiven.

Rescued

The first thing Paul mentions is that God rescued us from the domain of darkness, meaning we were once held captive or as prisoners to sin and God came down and freed us. If we were in physical bondage and captivity we would surely be grateful to the person who came and rescued us from our situation, well spiritually that is exactly what God did. We were at one time in a position, spiritually, where sin and darkness were in control of our lives. Before we came to Christ sin was what ruled in our lives, if we happened to do anything “good” it was because it benefited our sinful desires. However, Christ came down and removed the power sin had over us to where no longer are we controlled by our sinful desires.

Transferred

The next thing Paul mentions is that after we were rescued we were transferred to Christ’s Kingdom. You see he did not just free us from sin and leave us to wander around. We were transplanted from one kingdom to another, we went from slaves under sin to citizens in the Kingdom of God. We were rescued from our sinful desires and placed under the Lordship of one who requires us to do good. When Christ removed the power sin had over us we were given the Holy Spirit who urges us to follow God’s will.

Redeemed

It is not just that we were rescued from Satan’s power and became citizens of God’s kingdom but Christ has also redeemed us. What this means is that we were bought for a price, the word used here was that of paying a ransom. When sin entered into the world with Adam, we were taken captive; and when Christ died on the cross the ransom was paid to where God was able to bring us back into His kingdom. We were bought at a price to which we are no longer for sale. When we were redeemed by Christ the sale was final.

Forgiven

Finally we should be thankful because our sins are forgiven, which goes hand in hand with redemption. Look at in the way of when people would go into slavery due to large debts, because of sin we had an unpayable debt and thus became slaves to sin. Christ came and redeemed us, bought us from the slavery to sin, and then forgave us, payed off or canceled our debt. You see we should be thankful to God because of our salvation, as not only does God make it possible for us, but He is the one who saves us. We cannot do it on our own, only God had the power to bring us salvation.

Prayer of Brotherhood – Endurance and Patience

Posted on June 22, 2016June 16, 2016 by chgruver

This week we are looking at Paul’s prayer for the Colossian church and that they work to grow spiritually. Last time we saw the first aspect of spiritual growth being related to seeking God and knowledge of His will. Today we will look at how when growing spiritually we need to focus on endurance and patience. In Colossians 1:11-12 we see, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.”

Endurance and Patience

Paul prays that the Colossian church will be strengthened by God so they can exhibit endurance and patience. The purpose behind this is when you start to live out your faith you are bound to encounter trials and persecution, Paul understood this and prayed that God would give the Colossian church the strength to stand in such time. It is far too easy when times get tough because of our faith to take a step back and tone down our beliefs, but that actually hinders us. Growing spiritually is much like growing physically, when we grow physically we often encounter growing pains as we mature, growing spiritually is much the same we have to encounter the trials and tribulations in order to grow.

The need for endurance and patience is not just because of our own spiritual growth but also as we are shaped into the men God wants us to be. The trials and hardships are not just growing pains but also serve as a means to make you useful in doing God’s will. If you have ever seen the method that Native Americans used to use when making arrowheads they would take basically two stones and use one to chip away bits and pieces of the softer stone until an arrowhead was formed. The trials and hardships that we face where we are needing to have endurance and patience do much the same. They shape us and form us into until we are a tool useful for God’s purpose, then like sharpening a knife it is a process that keeps us useful. The thing to remember is that all believers face this, we are never told we will have an easy life as a Christian, that is why Paul prays for believers to be strengthened for endurance and patience, as trials and hardships are almost guaranteed to the believer.

Give Thanks

As we are strengthened to be able to exhibit patience and endurance giving thanks to God should naturally flow out from that. When you think about it when we were children we all wanted to grow, we would get excited about a mere fraction of an inch of growth; and we will celebrate each year as we get a year older. It is only natural that we should exhibit the same we have regarding physical growth when we see the evidence of our own spiritual growth. You see we are not giving thanks because we are facing the trials and hardships themselves, but rather we are giving thanks because it means we are growing in our faith.

Giving thanks is not just because of the evidence of our growth but also because we are saved. We give t hanks because we will take part in the inheritance that fellow believers will share in. The reason we are to give thanks to God is because He is the one that makes us able to share in the inheritance, it is not by anything we have done or could ever do; but it is all because of God’s mercy and grace. Next time we will look further into other reasons we should be giving thanks to God as Paul points out to the Colossian church.

Prayer of Brotherhood – God’s Will

Posted on June 20, 2016June 16, 2016 by chgruver

A couple of weeks ago we started to look at the book of Colossians and have been going through it verse by verse. We took a look at the city of Colossae as well as the church located there. Then last week we looked at how Paul reacted to learning about this church that started as part of the fruit of his ministry in Ephesus. This week we start to look at his specific prayer for the church in Colossae. This prayer is one that specifically geared towards wanting to see the Colossian church grow spiritually. This prayer in fact is a prayer that we as believers should have regarding each other, as brothers in Christ we should have a desire to see each other grow spiritually. So what is this prayer? In Colossians 1:9-14 we see, “For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.” Today we are going to look at the first two verses of this section, “For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.”

Knowledge of His Will

The first thing that Paul prays for regarding the Colossian church is that they will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. Remember this was a church that was facing false teachers that claimed there was a hidden knowledge that one needed to find, Paul is stating that God is willing to impart knowledge of His will on the believers. God’s will is not an Easter egg that is hidden in which you need to go searching for, no it is clearly revealed to us in His Word; all we need to do is seek to draw near to God, place our focus on Him and His will is revealed to us.

Walk Worthy of the Lord

It is not just enough to know God’s will it also needs to be applied. When Paul states that he prays that the Colossian church will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, he is essentially saying he prays that it becomes a controlling influence in their lives. As we focus more on God and His will we should naturally find ourselves wanting to “walk worthy of the Lord.” This means we will continue to grow in our knowledge of God, as we can never know everything there is to know, and do good works, as they are an outpouring of our faith. You see the first step of spiritual growth is learning more about God and His will as well as being obedient as we find ourselves wanting to do God’s will as we further seek to learn more about God and His will.

A Friend of a Friend – What Must Be Done

Posted on June 17, 2016June 9, 2016 by chgruver

In looking at Colossians 1:3-8 we have seen that Paul has heard about this young church that came out of the fruit of his ministry in Ephesus, and reminds them of the source of their hope. Today we will see what Paul points out as what should be done with that hope. In Colossians 1:6-8 we see, “It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God’s grace in the truth. You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah on your behalf, and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.” Paul now goes and starts telling the Colossian church the purpose of the Gospel.

Bearing Fruit

He starts out with telling them that the Gospel is bearing fruit and growing all over the world. Essentially Paul is stating that the Gospel is to continue to be spread, they heard the Gospel from someone and in turn they should be sharing the Gospel with others. Paul does this by telling the Colossians that it was not just them that found their hope through the Gospel but that the Gospel is for all people in all places. He was essentially stating that it was not just them that will find salvation in the message of the Gospel, but that they should be willing to spread it so that it would continue to bear its fruit.

Seed Planted

This point was driven home by Paul indicating that the seed that bore the spiritual fruit found in the Colossian church was planted by Epaphras. This was not one of the apostles, a missionary, or even some full time minister; this was just a fellow Colossian that heard the message and came to faith while he was probably visiting Ephasus. God used an ordinary man for His extraordinary purpose. As mentioned in the Great Commission we may not all be evangelists, but as Christians we are all to go and spread the Gospel around the world.

What’s The Fruit

So what is the fruit that is growing all over the world that Paul is talking about. It is those that have given their life to Christ. As mentioned they recognized God’s grace in the Gospel and gave their hearts over to it. On exposure to the Gospel message they had a stirring in their hearts as a result of the Holy Spirit drawing them to God that let them see this great gift that is offered to them, which they did not deserve. That is exactly what grace is, receiving something which you do not deserve; on the other side of the same coin is mercy, which is not receiving something you do deserve. You see through mercy we do not receive the punishment of death that we deserve due to sin and through God’s grace we receive life; not because of anything we did but because of Christ and what He did for us in His love. This is what Paul is doing right off the bat, he is reminding the Colossian church of the Gospel message, the message that led them to faith. He is reminding them of God’s grace and mercy as this needs to be first and foremost in their minds, especially when he starts to counter the false teachings that the church is dealing with.

Table Talk – Episode 50 – A New Name

Posted on June 16, 2016June 16, 2016 by chgruver

We have reached our 50th episode of Table Talk.

June 10, 2016: This week we talked about nicknames and how God promises us a new name and what that means.

A Friend of a Friend – What You Heard

Posted on June 15, 2016June 9, 2016 by chgruver

So we started looking at Colossians and this week we are looking at Colossians 1:3-8. Last time we looked at how Paul is thankful to God because of what he has heard regarding this young church. Today we will look at what Paul states they have heard that is the basis for their faith. Colossians 1:5, “You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel that has come to you.” Paul had just gotten finished telling them that he had heard of their faith and love which resulted from their hope. He now goes to tell them where they got their hope from and the reason it is reliable.

The Promise To Come

Paul is reminding them that their hope, this assurance of a promise to come, is contained within the message they have already received. It is not found in some secret revelation, or through some mystic experience. It is also not obtained through some strict adherence to a set of rules. Paul boldly states that to understand the hope that is reserved for them in heaven all they need to do is to look at the message they received through faith. The Colossian church has all these people coming in trying to say that receiving the Gospel is a good start but to truly be a Christian they need to follow a certain set of rules, or obtain some secret knowledge that hasn’t been revealed to them. Right here at the start Paul reminds them that the Gospel is all they need, it is the source of their hope.

The Truth Is The Truth

There is a reason that Paul refers to the Gospel as the message of truth, that is because no matter what the popular opinion is the truth will always be the truth. Paul was telling the Colossian church that no matter how popular the false teachings are, how appealing they may be, or how easy it would be to just go with the flow, the Gospel is the truth and only message that leads to salvation. In our own lives when we encounter various teachings we should always test them against Scripture to see whether they are false teachings or sound teaching. Paul is stating that no matter who is teaching or what the message is it should line up with the Gospel, anything else will draw you away from Christ.

So Paul is telling the Colossian church that they came to a saving faith in Christ through the message of the Gospel that they had received. This message was the truth and there is no hidden knowledge or mystical experience that is further required to obtain salvation, nor is there any special set of rules that they must perfectly follow. We need to remember the same thing, our faith is not about anything other than our relationship with Christ. If we are told that in order to be saved we need to do anything that takes our focus off of Christ we should steer clear of it; as our faith should have us constantly seeking Him, not some hidden knowledge or special experience, and not some set of rules.