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Guest (Male): Pastor Tom Keller spotlights two of the most beautiful words in all of the New Testament.

Pastor Thom Keller: Grace and peace. Those two words are found together and always in that order, grace and peace. They're found 18 times in the New Testament in the first few verses of 17 of the New Testament books. Why? Why grace and peace? And why in that order? Because you will never experience the peace of God. You will never experience peace with God until you first understand the grace of God, until you first live in and under the grace of God. Hello and welcome to Study the Word. Each day at this time, Pastor Tom Keller opens and studies the word with us.

And today we're going to begin Colossians as we highlight the first two verses. Pastor Tom draws our attention to three cities close in proximity. They had a very different water supply. One had a water temperature of hot, the other cold, and the third lukewarm. And now which of those three would best describe your spiritual temperature? Colossians chapter 1 and the teaching this morning is called hot, cold, or lukewarm. So here are a few amazing home remedies that I can't believe I never heard of until now. Amazing. First one is avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables, okay, by getting someone else to hold the vegetables while you slice.

Genius. Or this one. This is really basic truth. You only need two tools in life, WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and should, you use a WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, you use a duct tape. It's all right there. And the last one, this can save you a lot of money and trouble. If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem. There you go. Quick diagnosis to all problems. So with that said, does the logic hold that if you have a water problem, you have to call a plumber?

Well, not in today's lesson. Instead, we're going to see that the Apostle Paul, what he does to fix a no hot water problem. So we're in the book of Colossians this morning, and this is the city of Colossae. You can see where Colossae is. That's in Galatia. Then the region of Galatia today, that's smack in the middle of Turkey. We're going to be talking about these three cities that are very close to one another, uh Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. So let's pick up in chapter 1 verse 1. It says this letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and from our brother Timothy.

We are writing to God's holy people in the city of Colossae who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace. Now we see in these early verses that Paul that this letter was written by Paul to the church in Colossae, but Paul also asks that it be read to the nearby church of Laodicea. We find that in the fourth chapter verse 16, he says after you read this letter, pass it on to the church of Laodicea. So as we go through this book, keep in mind that Paul has the members of the Laodicean church in mind as well.

Pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it too. And you should read the letter that I wrote to them. Now Colossae and Laodicea were cities in Phrygia in the Roman-controlled province of Asia, which is today Turkey. Colossae, as you see there, was located about 100 miles east of Ephesus in the region of the seven churches that are addressed in Revelation 1 through chapter 3. And they're named in Revelation 1:11. It said write in a book everything you see and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Again, Laodicea being the last of the seven. The city of Colossae lay alongside the Lycus River with two other large cities almost within sight of one another, with all three cities located along the Lycus River, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colossae. This Lycus valley was known for two things. Number one, it was notorious for its many earthquakes. More than once, history records that Laodicea was destroyed by earthquakes, and so Laodicea Colossae being its close neighbor, the same would have been true. And the second was that the valley and its river were impregnated with chalk or calcium carbonate.

Just beautiful, these outcroppings of what the commentators refer to as chalk and these pools of water. The next picture you can see again how white this land is and the riverbed going through it. Absolutely beautiful. Soon I had the opportunity many years ago to go to Turkey and go to the cities that Paul founded there in Turkey, and we had the opportunity to be here and see this. And this chalk spread like a weed in weed-like fashion and virtually overtook the landscape. The commentator Lightfoot describes the valley as quote fertile land overlaid with chalk where the riverbeds are choked up by the stuff.

Fantastic grottoes or caves are formed by this strange power, both destructive and creative. He says fatal to vegetation, these incrustations of chalk spread like a stony shroud over the ground, gleaming like glaciers on a hillside. They attract the eye of the traveler at a distance of 20 miles. And additionally, to this view from 20 miles away, add to the scene Mount Cadmus rising 8,000 ft above the city. This is a formidable site. And Colossae's water This is important as we go in here. Colossae's water was supplied by an ice-cold stream that was fed by runoff from Mount Cadmus.

Now Colossae had two important trades. Volcanic ground is always fertile, and what was not covered by chalk incrustations was excellent pasture land. And as a result, this region boasted what was perhaps the greatest center of the wool industry in the region of that day. It was great for grazing sheep. And second, the chalky waters were found to be especially suited for dyeing cloth. This chalk water was excellent, they said, at cleaning dirt out of wool, bleaching wool, and fixing the color of the dyes into the wool, especially black and purple. And as some of you know from doing other Bible studies of the Bible, a purple dye was especially valuable because of where the dye came from.

But Colossae had lost its prominence by Paul's day. History records that Colossae had been a thriving city when King Xerxes of Persia, the King Xerxes from the book of Esther, marched through this region 500 years earlier. But by Paul's day, the main road had been re-routed to pass through Laodicea instead, leading to Colossians' decline and Laodicea's corresponding rise in wealth. As we are clearly told in the book of Revelation, Revelation 3:14 says write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

And then to verse 17, speaking of Laodicea, you say I am rich, I have everything I want, I don't need a thing. And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. It's interesting but out of the seven churches that are named, this is the only church that God had absolutely nothing good to say about, the church in Laodicea. It may be because of their extreme wealth. Wealth has a way in getting the way of a relationship. Barclay, the commentator, says quote Laodicea was one of the wealthiest cities in the world at this time.

And although the Colossian church was mainly Gentile of import is the fact that there was a very large Jewish population living in this region. William Barclay tells us that Roman records reveal that there was a minimum of 50,000 Jews already living in Laodicea in 62 BC. 62 BC, 50,000. Now as a comparison, in the first century in the city of Rome, it had a population of between 40 and 50,000 Jews out of a total population in the city of Rome of about 1 million excluding slaves. So Rome had a population of maybe 5% Jewish, and Laodicea being a much smaller city had the same number of Jews as Rome.

So as you picture Paul writing to the churches of both Colossae and Laodicea, keep in mind that Paul was very aware that he is writing to a very wealthy community, one that boasts a very large, wealthy Jewish population, probably trying to undo all that Paul is attempting to do. Now these are the hot springs located at Hierapolis, again 6 miles from Colossae, again in Turkey. The last thing about Laodicea, to whom Paul also is sending this letter, is the fact that they were dependent upon external water sources to be piped into their city to live on.

And the source of this water was actually from the hot springs at Hierapolis, 6 miles away. So the water that the Laodiceans drank came to them lukewarm. These are the uh the ruins of those actual pipes between Hierapolis and Laodicea. So by the time that hot water from Hierapolis got to Laodicea, it was lukewarm. And so the Bible Revelation 3:14-16, this all makes sense. It says write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is a message from the one who is the Amen, the faithful and true witness in the beginning of God's new creation.

This is to Laodicea. I know all things about you. I know all the things you do that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are like lukewarm water, that's what they drink, lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold. I will spit you out of my mouth. A fit analogy for Laodicea. The Anchor Bible Dictionary says this quote the water supplied by these hot springs was tepid and lukewarm and nauseous by the time it was piped to Laodicea. Unlike the therapeutic hot waters of Hierapolis or the refreshing cold waters of Colossae, this makes of course that passage from Revelation make sense in that context.

Now as to the dating of this letter, it was written somewhere they believe between 60 to 62 AD while Paul was still a prisoner in Rome. Paul wrote four prison uh epistles letters in this order, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and then Philemon. Of the book of Colossians, the commentator N. T. Wright says this quote Colossians is one of the shortest of Paul's letters and one of the most exciting. So with that said, let's dig in. Verse 1 chapter 1 verse 1. This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and from our brother Timothy.

Paul includes as an additional author to this letter Paul's protégé young Timothy. And then in verse 20 he says Paul chosen by God to be an apostle. Chosen by God to be an apostle. You know to me, it's very sad that Paul had to continually be defending his claim of being one of the apostles. Paul, understanding authority, knew that before he could speak into the lives of these Christians in Colossae, he needed to first prove that he had the authority to do so. And keep this in mind, Paul had never been to Colossae and Paul had never met these new believers.

He did not found this city. He never visited this city. So he didn't plan it, he didn't visit it, he didn't know these people, and yet he's claiming apostolic authority to speak to them. Now because Paul had not founded this church in Colossae or ever even visited this church, Paul very wisely anticipated his detractors in Colossae saying who is this Paul anyway? Why should we listen to him? But this was a standard problem that Paul ran into. And he had a standard procedure that he followed to deal with it. He himself would have to put himself forward claiming apostolic authority, claiming to be an apostle, chosen by God as he says here, 2 Corinthians 10:13.

He says we will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the good news of Christ taken from 2 Corinthians. Then 1 Corinthians chapter 9 but if others think I'm not an apostle Do you hear that? The the pain in that?

Even if others think I'm not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord's apostle. And then Galatians 1:2 all the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. Now not everyone is going to agree with what I'm going to say next, but I suspect that the 11 disciples maybe got ahead of themselves when they chose Matthias to replace Judas in Acts chapter 1. The reason I say that is because if you remember Luke chapter 24, Jesus speaking, he says behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

Tarry means to wait, to hang out, be still. And that event occurs only in Acts chapter 2 and in a powerful way in Pentecost. But back in Acts chapter 1, before the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were tarrying, waiting. And as they're waiting, Peter gets the idea. And it never says he prayed about it. It never says he got consensus. This is Peter speaking then think Peter who says who's sharing his opinion and says this, Acts chapter 1 verse 21. Peter speaking. So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus.

From the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus' resurrection. This is finding a replacement for Judas. And so the Bible says they nominated and they cast lots and chose Matthias. And this Matthias, by the way, is never heard from again. And they cast lots which was never done again by the apostles because from Pentecost on, their actions were directed by the Holy Spirit, not by rolling dice. There was a shift. So my contention is my contention had the disciples really tarried and waited on the Holy Spirit?

There's a chance, I think, that God would have guided them to wait for Paul and then give him the title and the authority of an apostle. The difference to Paul would have been huge. In Colossians 1:1 this letter is from Paul, chosen not by the apostles, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and from our brother Timothy. Galatians 1:1 always in the beginning. He has to he has to present his authority. This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority.

He knows we're going to say that. The apostles didn't appoint you to this position. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 2, strong statements. Even if others think I'm not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord's apostle. And listen, always remember this, let this enrich enrich your own Bible study. Just because things happen in the Bible the way they happened doesn't prove that that was God plan A.

A great case in point is Solomon. Solomon was a great king but Solomon was not God plan A to be the next king. Why? How could he have been? He was born out of a relationship between David with and Bathsheba, a woman that David took in adultery, stole from her husband, killed her husband, and then has a child, a second child through her named Solomon. How could God plan A involve him stealing someone's wife? That certainly was not God plan A. So whatever God plan A was, we don't know but it could not have included Solomon.

So those are my thoughts on Paul's apostleship. You need to make up your own mind. I'm not trying to lead you to that but every time I read Paul pleading for people to accept his apostolic authority, I feel saddened because I think you know there might have been another way. Uh going on to verse 2, it says to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here the word in Greek for saints is the Greek word hagios. And this word applies to all of you.

You are if you are in Christ the Bible calls us collectively saints. It means most holy one, physically pure, morally blameless, consecrated to God. To the saints in Christ Jesus. To the saints in Christ Jesus. McLaren, the commentator, says quote they are saints in Christ Jesus with this union with Christ being the condition on the purity and the consecration. In other words, his holiness is imputed to us, not our own, his righteousness, his holiness. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, not ours, his. And one more thing on the word saints. The word saints, plural, is used 230 times in the Bible and always and only listed in the plural, saints with an s, never in the singular.

Why? Because God wants us never to forget that we are collectively saints justified as one family with one father and one savior, all of us because Christ's holiness is imputed to us, all of us together collectively being physically pure and clean, morally blameless, and connected with God. Listen to the logic of this plural versus singular. To use the word saint in the singular implies that one is morally blameless, one is physically pure, that one is clean and consecrated. But that only speaks for that one. You are saying quote I am spotless and flawless. I am a saint.

I stand before God righteous. But what does that say about what you think about those who are standing next to you? So you may say I'm a saint but I'm not sure about those other believers over there. We are all morally blameless, all physically pure, all clean and consecrated to God, not because of our individual performance but because of Christ's righteousness having been imputed to us by faith. And understanding that, folks, levels the ground at the cross because the truth is we are all saints without distinction from one another because it's not based in our righteousness, it's based on his righteousness.

And then Paul adds this, may God our Father give you grace and peace. May God our Father give you grace and peace. Chuck Smith calls these the Siamese twins of the epistles, grace and peace. Those two words are found together and always in that order, grace and peace. They're found 18 times in the New Testament in the first few verses of 17 of the New Testament books. Why? Why grace and peace? And why in that order? Because you will never experience the peace of God. You will never experience peace with God until you first understand the grace of God until you first live in and under the grace of God.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Pastor Tom Keller on Study the Word, and we're in a study of Colossians right now. Would you like to give this a second listen? Either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Simply subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon, and you can watch our services live or on demand. That includes this series in Colossians. For those interested in a CD copy, call 717 273 5633. Once again, that's 717 273 5633. Study the Word is listener supported. With your help, we're able to reach thousands of people all over the world.

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