Join us as Pastor Giancarlo de Miranda presents a study in the book of Colossians.

<p>Join us as Pastor Giancarlo de Miranda presents a study in the book of Colossians.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Warren Seventh Day Adventist Church

Giancarlo De Miranda

Colossians: How Can I Pray For You?

Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, as we open up the Scriptures, we just pray for a special blessing of the Holy Spirit.

We finished our series on Abraham, and we're starting today a new series and that is on the book of Colossians in the New Testament Scriptures.

So I want to give you a little historical background of that epistle before we even get into any of the text.

And by the way, I think what just happened over here all these people coming forward here and this prayer for new believers or people that are seeking the Lord it was actually somehow an introduction to the message that God has in the epistle to the Colossians.

So I want to give you a little bit of information, just bear with me for a time so that helps us to understand the book more clearly.

Notice what we find here about the historical setting of Colossians.

It was written by the Apostle Paul around the year 61 or 62 AD when he was in prison for the first time.

So the Apostle Paul was put in prison because of the gospel preaching the Word of God and Paul was not the what does it say there if you can read he was not the what the direct founder of this church the church of the Colossians he was not the 1 that actually went there and labor with them and brought them to Christ it was somebody else but possibly a path for us we see that inside the scriptures and other believers for 3 years that's before Paul was put in prison, for 3 years, Ephesus, that's another city in Asia, close to where the Colossians are found, for 3 years, Ephesus became the headquarters of Paul's missionary work.

In fact, Paul established there a missionary school and from there he would train Bible workers, missionaries to go out and spread the gospel.

Ephesus was a city that a lot of people went through the sea port there.

Number 4, people from all parts of Asia traveled through the great sea port of Ephesus.

Those that accepted the gospel message from Paul would bring it back to where, everyone?

They heard the words of Paul and his missionaries in Ephesus.

They were traveling, and then as they went back to their hometowns they would bring the message of the gospel back to their hometowns and that's how the Colossians got to hear the gospel message through Epaphras.

You don't need to go there, but just so you can see what was happening in Ephesus that was spreading around the Asian minor.

It says here, all, how many people did it says here?

All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

So everybody that were traveling through that route were hearing the word of truth and they were bringing back if they accepted the message even if they didn't they were somehow bringing the news about this teaching about Jesus Christ just like that book that our sister just said she found a book steps to Christ on the streets and somebody had probably rejected the book, but somehow He was bearing the message and bringing the message and that message was found So notice in number 5 here Paul felt what everyone he felt what he felt?

Responsible for the spiritual well being of the Colossian Christians Why did he feel responsible?

He wasn't the 1 that started that church, he wasn't like the father in the gospel of those believers, but why would he feel responsible?

That is because he knew that even though he wasn't the 1 that went there and preached to them, somebody that had heard his message had gone there and brought them to the gospels.

So he was considered maybe the grandfather of the Colossians.

Number 6, it says, Epaphras informed Paul of the qualities and what else about the Colossians?

The dangers that the Colossian Christians face so now Paul is in prison so we are going forward here and the timeline Paul is in his first imprisonment and then Epaphras becomes you know a powerful missionary and assistant and associate of Paul He comes to prison to visit Paul and he says, you know that church that I found there along with other believers, the Colossians?

And he told all the great qualities that they had as believers, but also the dangers that they were facing.

Number 7, the Colossian believers were in danger to embrace what, everyone?

Would you say that it is possible that the true followers of Christ today can be in danger to accept false teachings?

If the devil has brought false teachings into the church in the past, the Christian church in the past, do you think he would try to bring false teachings in this last days as well?

Well, yes, the same is true for us today, friends.

We can see actually throughout the history of the Christian church that when the devil failed to conquer the church through persecution, he changed his strategy and he used heresies, traditions, false teachings and they were in danger to embrace false teachings.

Notice in number 8 these false teachings seem to be a mixture between Judaism and a kind of Oriental Paganism.

So there is a mixture, we are going to see some of them in another presentation, but that was what was happening there I want to read you a statement from the SDA Bible commentary volume 7 on page 184 about the Colossians it says not only is Paul concerned to refute Judaism, Judaism legalism excuse me, he also must contain with certain pagan elements that sought to degrade or eclipse the what of Christ?

In other words, the false teaching was somehow undermining the ministry of Jesus in our behalf.

Somehow eclipsing Jesus as the pillar, as the center of our salvation.

And Paul was in the business of helping them to get back to the center of our faith and the role of Christ in our salvation, the office of Christ.

Therefore, he attacks the idea of angelic intermediaries as agents of creation and mediation.

So we will see that in another presentation, as I said.

And finally here for our historical settings, the identity of Christ and his redemptive role are the central theme of the epistle.

So if you want to summarize this epistle in 1 sentence, it is the identity of Christ, who Christ is, as well as his redemptive role in our behalf.

I want to invite you to go with me to Colossians chapter 1, if you will.

So let's turn our Bibles to the book of Colossians in chapter 1 and we're going to read a few verses here where Paul starts his epistle letting them know that he is giving thanks to God.

What is the action of giving thanks to God for somebody else?

He's actually doing what as he's giving thanks?

So he's praying for the Colossians or interceding for them.

And then he goes on to say, to list the things that he has been praying for them.

I want to pick up here in verse, excuse me, in verse 3, Colossians chapter 1 and verse 3.

The Bible says, notice carefully, we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

First lesson here, Paul invested time to pray not only for other believers, but especially for new believers.

And as new believers they were in danger to be swept away through false teachings or through their legalism not be able to conquer the passion of the sinful nature and he knew that they needed prayer they needed what everyone?

Notice in verse 9, let's turn our Bibles there.

He's going to begin to give us a list of how he prays for new believers.

But by the way, you can apply that to old believers you can apply that to your spouse you can apply what we're going to see here to your children to your neighbor to anyone actually but to be fair with the epistle he is praying all these things that we are going to read to new believers, especially to new believers.

Verse 9, notice carefully what we find in verse 9, for this reason we also since the day we heard it of their faith do not what is next word everyone cease to pray for you so he's basically saying I'm frequently praying for you and to ask that you may number 1 be filled with the knowledge of His will, the will of God.

Filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

Verse 10, the Bible says that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work increasing in the knowledge of God verse 11 strengthen with all might according to his glorious power for all patients and long-suffering with joy.

Verse 12 the Bible says giving thanks to the Father that's what he's praying for them about who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

So in case you got lost here's the list Here is the list 9 things that Paul is praying for new believers, which you can pray for as well But you can pray for other people Pray for people to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all wisdom.

Pray for people to increase in the knowledge of God, to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, fruitful in every good work, strengthened with all might, all patience and longsuffering, with joy and giving thanks to the father Friends I want to highlight here some key words in this list that we just learned from Paul's prayer for the Colossians.

And I want you to see some words that seem to indicate that Paul is really praying for them to become mature, to become what, everyone?

So the Bible goes like this both Paul as well as Peter but Jesus himself talks about new believers, Christians as baby in the faith, as children in the faith that needs to grow and become mature.

What is the first word of point number 1?

What is the first word of point number 4?

Colossians: How Can I Pray For You?

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