In The Footsteps of Paul

Letters To Young Churches

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Tony Moore

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Series Code: IFP

Program Code: IFP000016


01:36 I'm walking here in the pools of ancient Hierapolis known
01:43 today as Pamukkale, the white cotton cliffs.
01:47 This Clift is spectacular as the water comes from the
01:52 thermal pools and literally baths the rocks turning them
01:57 to this beautiful white that can be seen for
02:01 miles and miles around.
02:03 The view is spectacular, the water is warm.
02:07 This was a great resort place in Bible times and it
02:12 cause the Romans to build a fantastic city on the top
02:17 of this hill known as Hierapolis.
02:20 There is the Gate of Domitian decorating the entrance
02:24 to the city, there are various gates and cultic temples
02:28 that were built here, as well as a fantastic Necropolis.
02:33 Sarcophagi scattered over all of the hills.
02:38 The Romans took great interest in the city and built
02:43 a tremendous theater with incredible acoustics.
02:47 It is one of the finest preserved theaters today in
02:51 Anatolia, but the reason people came here was for the
02:56 baths, even today people come and vacation in the hotels
03:00 surrounding the cliffs.
03:03 They are able to take advantage of the thermal pools and
03:06 the minerals that are deposited here.
03:11 We are now going to follow the water down into the valley
03:14 to the ancient ruins of Laodicea.
03:17 From there we will look for the ruins
03:20 of ancient Colossae.
03:24 We have just come down from the site of ancient
03:28 Hierapolis, those great thermal pools we saw up on top
03:33 of the cliffs, we have come down into the Lycus river valley
03:37 to the immense city of Laodicea.
03:40 This was a large city by New Testament standards,
03:44 wealthy, you can tell by all the marble that is laying
03:48 around, and the water from the top we noted was being
03:51 channeled down into the valley.
03:54 This water reached the valley and was no longer hot nor was
03:58 it cold, it was lukewarm.
04:01 Here we can see some of the great capital and dentils
04:07 that have now fallen into the street.
04:09 We can see many of the fertility symbols, eggs
04:13 everywhere, the symbols of fertility that were so important
04:17 in this part of the world.
04:20 We have come looking through these fantastic ruins seeing
04:22 if there might be some evidence of the cross.
04:25 Here we can see part of the pediment, Latin inscriptions
04:30 that is written here, we can see the fertility
04:34 decorations on this pediment.
04:38 We can see all kinds of fascinating designs.
04:42 And we have come here looking to see if there is some
04:44 evidence of the cross.
04:46 Pau sent a letter to the church here, Jesus sent
04:50 a letter to the church here in Laodicea also.
04:53 As I was wandering around these ruins, I came across this
04:58 stone, and I want to try and stand up here because this
05:04 beautiful white stone we see a cross.
05:07 On the side I saw this stone and I want to put it on the
05:13 top because we see that it is a cross.
05:18 Yes there was a thriving Christian community here.
05:23 Over the hill are the ruins of the Great Basilica of John.
05:27 Christianity took deep root, but unfortunately it has
05:32 been broken, it is no more.
05:35 Jesus wrote to this church that prided itself on its
05:39 wealth, prided itself on its black garments, that prided
05:43 itself on that fine eye powder.
05:46 He said really you are poor, and naked and blind.
05:51 Jesus gave a prescription for this church, He said you must
05:56 buy from Me gold tried in the fire.
06:00 They were wealthy, as we walk this immense site we see
06:05 marble everywhere, marble littering this site.
06:08 Jesus said buy from Me gold tried in the fire.
06:11 Gold is faith that works by love, by from Me pure faith
06:17 by surrounding yourself to Me.
06:20 Then He said you need white raiment, they had prided
06:24 themselves on their black garments.
06:27 Jesus said you need white raiment,
06:30 the white raiment of My righteousness.
06:32 Yes the finest that human beings can produce, the finest
06:37 robes that we can weave are just like filthy rags.
06:42 We need the righteousness that comes as
06:44 a gift from Jesus.
06:47 He promised to give it to Laodiceans, He said you must
06:51 buy it, we buy it by surrendering our heart to Jesus.
06:57 Unfortunately, Laodicea was so content in its wealth,
07:02 in its splendor, in its own righteousness, that Jesus said
07:07 they were neither hot nor cold.
07:10 We saw the hot water at Hierapolis, bubbling up out
07:14 of the thermal springs, coming down the channels and it was
07:18 lukewarm when it got to the valley.
07:19 Jesus said that the Christians here were in the same
07:23 condition, neither hot, nor zealous,
07:27 nor cold against Him but complacent.
07:30 As I think about it what a description
07:33 of modern Christianity.
07:36 What a prescription of 21st century Christianity.
07:41 We are rich and increased with goods, we live in the
07:45 wealthiest time of history of our world,
07:48 We think we have need of nothing.
07:50 Yet the reality is, that when our eyes are touched
07:53 by the Spirit, we see that really we are
07:56 poor and blind and naked and in need of everything.
08:05 We are here at the tell of ancient Colossae.
08:09 It is such a beautiful setting, so peaceful that we can
08:13 hear the Lycus River in the distance as it is gurgling
08:18 and making its way past.
08:19 This river begins up on the hills of Hierapolis,
08:24 those great White cliffs and it's slowly meanders its way
08:28 down past Colossae.
08:30 As you can see this is a largely unexplored site.
08:34 Today there is grain growing on the top of it,
08:37 very unusual for tell.
08:39 We can make out the edge of the city walls
08:43 around the tell.
08:44 We could see there was a temple platform on the eastern
08:49 edge of the city, perhaps that was the main approach.
08:53 We can also make out the gates into the city and
08:58 their water source.
09:00 Of course the brook close by provided a source of water
09:04 for growing their crops.
09:06 We can see the farmers working their fields around here.
09:08 There are orchards, is a very fertile place.
09:12 We are probably about 9 or 10 miles away from
09:16 Laodicea, that great city where we visited earlier where
09:21 Paul had written a letter to, and Jesus had
09:24 written the letter to.
09:26 Although Paul never came to the site of Colossae,
09:29 he wrote one of his pastoral epistles to this city.
09:32 To the church that was located here.
09:35 The city is long gone, earthquakes have done their work
09:41 on the ancient buildings.
09:43 Today the village is moved up to Honas upon the hill.
09:48 Many of the building materials that were used in ancient
09:51 Colossae have been recycled into the modern village.
09:56 Paul wrote a letter to Colossae.
10:00 He had never visited the city, but his friend Epaphras
10:05 had brought the Gospel here.
10:07 It appears that Epaphras was actually from this city and
10:12 he brought the good news of Jesus as the Christ here.
10:17 He shared, perhaps the family, friends, coworkers and
10:22 they became believers in Jesus.
10:24 Epaphras also planted the Gospel in Laodicea and
10:29 apparently up at Hierapolis as well.
10:33 While Paul never visited the city, he had heard of the
10:37 faith of these believers, and while at Rome he penned
10:41 one of his most beautiful epistles to this city.
11:24 Although Paul had never actually visited the city,
11:27 he had a tremendous bond because of his friend Epaphras,
11:31 who had shared with Paul.
11:34 Perhaps they have prayed together about the saints
11:37 that lived in this city.
11:38 Perhaps they have prayed about the Gospel that had
11:41 been planted here at Laodicea.
11:44 Paul is concerned and so from a pastor's heart he writes
11:47 this letter of concern, sharing with them some of the
11:51 most beautiful teachings that Paul ever penned
11:54 were sent to this church.
11:56 We don't see dramatic problems that he had to address
12:00 like developed in Galatia, the problems over the
12:04 issues of salvation, we don't even catch a hint of that
12:07 in Colossians, we don't see some of the problems that
12:11 developed about exclusivity that we see in Philippi.
12:15 We certainly don't see the massive problems that
12:19 developed in Corinth and the letters Paul wrote there.
12:23 We do see a pastor sharing his heart,
12:26 a pastor encouraging people that he has never met
12:30 to be faithful in Jesus.
12:56 What a tremendous message Paul sent to this church.
13:00 Set your mind on things above where Christ is risen for
13:03 you, don't set your mind on earthly things.
13:07 We can see the evidence of the splendid past.
13:11 Here is the base of a column, there is piece of stone
13:16 that was a pediment.
13:18 We can see a splendid past here, but the material
13:21 things have all passed away.
13:23 Paul said make your life count, set your mind,
13:26 your heart, all the things above.
13:29 Things that will come for eternity.
13:31 Paul shares some of his most intimate
13:34 teachings with this church.
13:48 He says to the Colossians, just as you were taught by
13:52 Epaphras to live in Christ, so continue to walk in Him.
13:56 Be rooted in Christ and grow up in Him.
13:59 What a tremendous epistle on spiritual formation, and yet
14:03 Paul does give one teaching that is often misunderstood.
14:07 He goes on to say in verse 11.
14:21 Paul says that we were circumcised, not by the physical
14:25 putting off of the foreskin of the flesh, but we were
14:28 circumcised in our hearts by the putting off of the old
14:31 life, he says we were called to live a new life in Jesus.
14:35 The old life has been set aside.
14:38 Paul uses another wonderful image,
14:49 Yes the believers here were baptized down in the Lycus
14:52 river and he says that you were buried with Christ in
14:56 baptism, you put off that old life, that old life has
15:00 been buried, it is gone, it's washed away.
15:03 You are now a new person in Jesus Christ.
15:05 Now let's look at the two images he has used.
15:07 The one was circumcision, putting off the old nature.
15:12 Cutting off the old life.
15:14 The second was that of baptism, burying the old life,
15:18 letting it die, letting it go.
15:21 He says that you have been made full and complete in
15:24 Jesus, as the Christ.
15:27 And then he says in verse 13.
15:49 Paul says that when you were dead in your
15:52 uncircumcised life, when you were living that old life,
15:55 that he made you alive in Jesus Christ.
15:59 Having put off the old nature, it is as if you were
16:02 buried, as if it was cut away in circumcision.
16:05 Yes he says.
16:22 Paul says don't get caught up in these philosophies,
16:25 don't get drawn back into this mix of Jewish thinking and
16:30 mysticism and cynicism that was going on your Colossae.
16:34 Paul said that you have been so completely forgiven
16:39 through Jesus Christ.
16:40 Don't be drawn into these philosophical ideas and
16:45 practices about the spiritual life,
16:48 No! you have been made one in Christ.
16:51 You are just as if you had never sinned.
16:54 Paul says that we have been so completely forgiven that
16:59 he even took the written code with it's regulations that
17:03 stood against us and nailed it to His cross.
17:06 What is this written code that Paul said stood against
17:10 us with its regulations?
17:13 Many people misinterpret this passage, they misunderstand
17:17 this passage thinking that Paul is talking
17:20 about the Ten Commandments.
17:22 They think that Paul is actually talking about God's
17:25 moral law, they say the moral law was against us and that
17:29 Jesus took the moral law and nailed it to the cross.
17:33 Yet when we read it in its context, it does not make
17:36 sense that way, for Paul is saying that we have been
17:39 completely forgiven, that he even took this record,
17:44 this certificate of debt and nailed it to the cross.
17:48 Were the Ten Commandments contrary to us?
17:51 Were the Ten Commandments against us?
17:55 No, what was against us?
17:59 The word that Paul uses appears only in this passage in
18:03 the New Testament, it doesn't appear anywhere else in
18:07 Paul's writings or any of the other Gospels.
18:11 The word is used in the Apocalypse of Elijah where an
18:16 angel is seeing recording the sins of the people in a
18:21 book, in a special book.
18:23 This book then stood as a testimony against them
18:29 because of their sinfulness.
18:31 Paul says the very record of sins being kept by an angel
18:37 in heaven was taken to the cross and nailed to the cross.
18:42 That is how completely you have been forgiven.
18:45 Even the record of your sins has been nailed to
18:49 the tree with Jesus.
18:51 Paul then goes on to say.
19:01 He uses that imagery when a general will conquer a land,
19:05 that he would bring the King from that land in a
19:09 great train behind him.
19:11 We see this happening in the arch of Titus at Rome.
19:15 There are all the treasures in the temple that Titus
19:19 brought back from Jerusalem to his Imperial capital at
19:23 Rome saying that he has triumphed over them.
19:26 I have made a spectacle over them.
19:28 The old devil had invented death there in the garden of
19:32 Eden, that serpent had not only given them an
19:36 understanding of knowledge, but also of evil.
19:40 He brought evil into our world, he brought sin into our
19:43 world, and he brought death.
19:46 Jesus came to destroy the one who had very power of death
19:51 by triumphing over it He entered into it the realm of
19:55 Hades and experienced all the devil could give.
19:58 Even the second death and then by His own power
20:02 He came back to life.
20:05 He said no one takes My life from Me, I lay it down of
20:10 My own accord and I will take it up.
20:13 Jesus came back to life breaking the bonds of death,
20:17 delivering those through fear of death all of their
20:22 lifetime subject to bondage as Paul wrote
20:24 in Hebrews chapter 2.
20:26 So he made a public spectacle over the enemy who has
20:31 terrorized people with death.
20:33 All through these lands we see the fear of Hades,
20:36 we see Pluto as the keeper of Hades, we see the various
20:40 ways that people have tried to deal with death.
20:44 Jesus came and experienced it and defamed its power.
20:49 Paul says that we have been so completely forgiven that
20:53 even the very record of our sins was nailed to the cross.
20:57 I have to confess that I'm not a great believer in the
21:01 Living Bible, although I read it occasionally for my
21:04 devotions, I am very careful of it for doctrinal
21:09 purposes, but Dr. Taylor captures the essence of the
21:13 passage so clearly that I wanted to read it to you.
21:46 Isn't that powerful!
21:48 He took the very list of commandments that you have
21:51 broken, that I have broken, and he nailed to the cross.
21:55 In this way He took away Satan's power to accuse us.
21:59 Yes, Satan means the accuser, he is the
22:03 accuser of the brethren.
22:06 Unfortunately there is plenty for him to accuse most of us
22:11 isn't there? And yet Jesus has completely forgiven us.
22:15 So don't get caught up in these other philosophies.
22:18 Don't get caught up in these ideas of Gnosticism.
22:21 Don't even get caught up in the Jewish teachings that
22:25 you must do more than believe in Jesus.
22:29 Paul comes to verse 16 and says, "therefore in light of"
22:34 "this," in light of how completely you have been
22:37 forgiven in Jesus Christ by faith in Him.
22:59 Paul says in light of this do not let anybody judge you
23:01 about what you eat or drink or your religious festivals,
23:04 or new moons for Sabbath days for all of these things
23:07 were shadows pointing forward to Christ.
23:10 But now He is the reality, He has come.
23:13 Apparently here at Colossae there were some Jews who had
23:19 become believers in Jesus, and they were mingling
23:23 teachings of Judaism with belief in Jesus.
23:27 Now Paul was a Jew, he left Ephesus to go to Jerusalem
23:33 that he might celebrate Pentecost there.
23:36 Paul was even arrested while participating in a vowel
23:40 in the temple at Jerusalem.
23:43 He was a Jew and we have seen all through his travels
23:46 that he was obedient to the Ten Commandments.
23:52 Yet Paul recognized that there was a difference.
23:56 The Gentile Christians did not have to participate
24:00 in Jewish festivals.
24:03 While he chose to, he said it was optional because you
24:07 have been forgiven in, Jesus don't let anyone judge you
24:10 about whether or not you participate in these festivals.
24:14 There was nothing wrong with keeping the feasts, there was
24:17 nothing wrong with celebrating Passover or Pentecost.
24:20 There is nothing wrong with Christians doing it today,
24:23 but he said don't let people judge you whether you
24:26 participate in that or not.
24:28 Now somebody may be thinking, Tony you must be
24:30 stretching this a bit.
24:31 Is that really what he is talking about?
24:33 Notice is the language that is used in the 45th
24:37 chapter of Ezekiel?
24:53 Did you notice that?
24:55 It is for the part of the priest to provide the grain offering,
24:58 the drink offering, or the wine offering.
25:02 In all festivals, and all the new moons
25:06 in all the Sabbaths.
25:08 If we compare the list in Colossians 2 with the list in
25:12 Ezekiel 45, we will see an exact parallel.
25:15 Paul was talking about the temple services.
25:19 You see Christians here at Colossae, Christians in
25:22 Galatia, Christians in Laodicea and Hierapolis, they had to
25:26 struggle with different issues than you and I.
25:31 I don't think that you have had to struggle recently
25:33 about going up to the temple for Passover.
25:36 While many of us look forward to going to Jerusalem,
25:42 do we have to go up as part of our spirit belief?
25:47 No, and yet some are saying that this was necessary.
25:52 Some were saying it was necessary to add to our faith in
25:57 Jesus by participating in the Jewish cultic practices.
26:02 Paul said no, it is not necessary for Christians,
26:05 it is optional.
26:07 Don't let anybody judge you about whether you participate
26:10 in that or not, for you have been completely forgiven
26:14 in Jesus Christ. He says.
26:25 Paul says to not let anybody judge you in meat or drink,
26:28 festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths.
26:31 It is very interesting that actually seven Sabbaths in
26:36 the annual calendar of Israel, they were tied to days of the
26:42 month, not days of the week.
26:44 You see the seventh day Sabbath would come every seventh day
26:49 on what we know today as Saturday.
26:53 Even today the Jews still celebrate the Shabbat.
26:56 Paul celebrated the Shabbat, Jesus celebrated Shabbat.
27:01 John celebrated Shabbat.
27:06 But there were seven annual Sabbaths not tied to a day
27:10 of the week but tied to a different day of the month.
27:13 Paul says don't let people judge you about whether
27:16 you keep them or not.
27:18 In Leviticus chapter 23, when Moses discusses the day
27:21 of atonement, he said that there would be a Sabbath of
27:25 the first day of the month, and a Sabbath on the 10th
27:28 day of the month, obviously this cannot refer to the
27:32 weekly Sabbath because they are 10 days apart.
27:35 There were seven annual Sabbaths that roved through
27:38 the week like your birthday that are tied to
27:41 days of the month.
27:43 Paul says to not let anybody judge you about whether
27:45 you keep those are not, for we have been fully forgiven
27:49 in Jesus Christ and it is not necessary to
27:52 participate in these festivals.
27:54 Paul writing to the church here at Colossae says that
27:59 we have been made one in Christ, therefore as we receive
28:04 Jesus Christ as Lord, so we should live in Him.
28:08 So from Colossae we have to take our journey now and go
28:12 on, but we wish you God's blessings and pray that He
28:17 will watch over you.
28:18 Father in heaven as we study this powerful passage of
28:22 Colossians written by Paul to a church he never met
28:26 personally, yet his heart was bound close to the
28:30 Colossians when he heard of their faith.
28:32 Lord I pray that you will help us to be rooted in
28:36 the faith, to grow up in You.
28:38 I pray that You will help us to set our minds on things
28:41 that are above, on Jesus Himself may that be true in our
28:45 lives both today and every day for the rest of our lives
28:48 we pray in Jesus name, Amen!
28:51 And so from the green fields of Colossae, as the sun sets
28:56 here by the tell, we wish you God's blessings.


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Revised 2014-12-17