Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one A Psalm of David.

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1 The Report about Prayer for the Colossians (1.3-8) WestminsterReformedChurch.org Pastor Ostella April 21, 2019 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing-- as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col ) Introduction In 1.3, Paul builds on the benediction where he tells the Colossians exactly what he says in prayer for them that God, the Father of the Christian family in Christ, would bless them by the power of grace with a fullness of peace (v. 2b): Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Although Paul is not present with them so they can hear his prayer, they do hear him in effect when the letter is read to them, and the same will be true when the letter is read at Laodicea (4.16: And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea). The benediction is an interjection, an abrupt remark by which he petitions God's blessing on the readers before they receive the letter. But then it is heard when the letter is read publicly. The readers (in private or public) hear Paul pray for them. Luke gives us something similar when he causes us to hear the words of prayer to God by the church in Acts (And when they heard it [that Peter and John had been released by the antagonistic council of Jerusalem], they [the church] lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them 29 now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness ). The prayer to God is quoted precisely. Here in Colossians 1.3-8, the apostle expands and shifts from quoting his benediction to a report. Notice these verses do not state a single petition (that begins in v. 9). It is a word to them about prayer, not a word to God in prayer. It is about prayer, not the utterances of prayer. He tells the Colossians that he gives thanks and why he does so. Hence, our title for this text is The Report about Prayer for the Colossians. In the report, he expresses his thanksgiving and then grounds it. I. In his report about prayer for them, Paul expresses his thanksgiving As I read verse 1, note how much theology is presented (it is theologically front-loaded): We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. The language is familiar and we may easily read right past it. A. On one hand, giving thanks is revealing We need to pause and ponder remembering that Paul never met these people face to face (from 1.4, we heard of your faith; 2.1, you have not personally seen my face). They are by and large Gentiles (2.13) who had no prior training in Jewish monotheism and no training in the doctrine of the trinity. Their background is the domain of darkness, but now they are in the kingdom of God s beloved Son (1.13). Nonetheless, he speaks to them, as we will see, in both monotheistic and trinitarian terms. When He thanks God, he does so in a revealing way: the one God of the OT, Yahweh is here presented as the Father of our Lord Jesus. The Fatherhood of God is not a common theme in

2 !2 OT Scripture but it is distinctive and dominate in the NT. But remarkable is the fact that God has a Son who in the backdrop of the Gospels is His beloved Son like no other (just recall the words at the baptism of Jesus). On the other hand, numerous times Jesus refers to God as my Father in a distinct relationship, one that transcends time because the Father sent the Son into the world on a mission to accomplish His work (Jn 4.34; 17.4). Paul thus refers to God in an awesome and austere way: as the one God of the famous Shema (Deut 6.4: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one). This is Yahweh our God who spoke to David's Lord cited in Psalm 110.1: A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." From Luke 20, we know that the Christ (the promised Messiah) is both David s son and David s Lord ( ). The Father and the Son existed before the foundation of the world in a special relationship of love (Jn 17.24). Therefore, they exist as two distinct persons, and the mention of the Spirit in Colossian 1.8 indicates a third distinct person. Elsewhere, Paul states the fundamental OT truth that God is one (Rom 3.30; Gal 3.20); so, God is one and three, one essence (i.e., equal in power and glory) and three persons (in a relationship expressed by the pronouns of distinction: I, you, and he). The relationship of the Father to the Son indicates the authority of the first person of the trinity over the second person in the work of redemption (Jn 4.34: Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work). At the same time, they are eternally united and equal; but in the incarnation, Jesus says, the Father is greater than I (Jn 14.28). Given the Gentile/Colossian context, Paul s identification of the one to whom he gives thanks is quite revealing. He gives thanks to the triune God in terms of the unique relation of Christ to the Father; and He is our Father (Col 1.2) because He is the Father of Jesus who is our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is intimate, personal, and truly profound. It calls to mind the Lord's prayer where Jesus directs us to pray to the Father who is our Father and in heaven, transcendent, thrice holy, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent but near at hand as our Father. These Gentiles have been taught a huge amount of theology based on the OT and the Gospels. B. So, on the other hand, giving thanks is abiding In this verse, the apostle states that thanksgiving is a constant: We [Paul, Timothy, and the other co-workers] give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. The depth of the language regarding who God is and the marvelous privilege of the believer s relationship with the triune God that we have because of our Lord Jesus understandably drives a constancy and regularity of prayer that Paul says is always for you. We have to merge the ideas of gratitude and constancy and take hold of the point that regular praying for others must always be thankful because of what Christ has done for us, and it is only through Him that we can go to God in prayer. Thus, every step forward by petition steps on, rests on, rests its feet on, blessings already granted. This thought directs us to the next major point about Paul s prayer report. II. In his report about prayer for the Colossians, Paul grounds his thanksgiving He tells them why he always gives thanks for them. At the same time, he lists things about them by God s working that give encouragement to them, the other churches of the Lycus valley, and encouragement to all churches down through the centuries. This single sentence (3-8) contains a number of reasons for Paul s approach to the triune God of Scripture, with thanksgiving, always. Our translations typically break the long sentence into smaller sentences. This could be helpful in the study of the text by fixing the mind on specifics within the complicated sentence structure. We just have to remind ourselves that before us is a shotgun blast or stream of ideas flowing one after another. We can grab on to some of the pellets flying at us by

3 !3 identifying hope as the central idea. Paul is thankful because the hope of the Colossians is incorruptible, defined by an effective gospel, and accords with the truth. A. First, the hope in view is incorruptible We will come back to verse 4 in the stream of ideas here, but let s start with the observation that their hope, Paul says (v. 5) is laid up for you in heaven. Obviously in general, hope could either be subjective or objective. If subjective, it would be something within the heart, within the subject or person. Or, it could be something objective, outside the person. Subjectively, hope is one s expectation and anticipation regarding the future, and objectively, hope is the object that is anticipated; that for which one hopes and waits. The objective sense is clearly intended here because the hope is something laid up in heaven. It is something worthy of expectant desire (ultimately we cannot separate the subjective and subjective sides of hope). His point is quite general; nothing specific is cited as to what is laid up for them, but we have to admit that the prospect that it is laid up in heaven inspires the best of thoughts. If it is there for you and for me; there in heaven then whatever it is, it must be profoundly marvelous. Working from the immediate context, we have some clues regarding what awaits us in heaven. 1. One clue is that the church at Colossae is made up of holy people. Remember, the full description includes the fact that they are holy ones, people set apart by God to be saints (1.2): To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. In the language of Colossians 1.22, they are reconciled to God from alienation and bound for complete holiness in the consummation of all things: he has now reconciled [you] in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Now on the road to heaven and having been reconciled, we have fellowship with God every day with access to Him at every moment. Reconciliation and fellowship give a taste of the fulness to come when our enjoyment of God is sealed forever in heaven. 2. Another contextual clue arises from the fact that the resurrection of Jesus is indicated by Paul s apostleship, which means that he is an eyewitness of the resurrected Lord. So, our holiness as siblings in the new covenant family of God our Father has it roots set deep in our union with Christ, who is raised and seated at the right hand of God (1.2; 2.6-7; 3.1). You can therefore hope with great expectation (not wishing but anticipating based on the foretaste you already have) you can expectantly anticipate the completion of your holiness in the glory of the resurrection. Let s be clear, yes, Jesus is the hope of glory but because that is so then what is coming is the freedom of the glory of the children of God, Paul says, that we wait for with eagerness (Rom 8.21). This glorious freedom is our adoption as sons, the redemption of the body (8.23). We are sons now with God as our Father (Col 1.2); we are adopted sons and daughters already, but not completely. For completion to what we have now must be added the resurrection of our very bodies. Pointedly, our hope is incorruptible, secure, unbreakable, certain and sure because it is laid up in heaven for us. The object of hope is sure because it is laid up in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Mat 6.20). Complete and incorruptible holiness is there for us; true unfading freedom from sin is there for us; indestructible resurrection glory is there for us! These things cause Paul to give thanks; there is a lot for which to be thankful and from which to take encouragement; so, his report of prayer for them is like an overflowing well of cool fresh water. B. Second, he gives thanks because hope is defined by the gospel He says in 1.5 that this hope laid up for you in heaven is that which you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel. You have heard about this hope in the preached word of truth, the very word of God, the gospel-good news. And this gospel is fruitful (1.6): it has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing-- as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

4 !4 We return in this connection to verse 4 where Paul indicates that his thanks to the triune God is driven by their faith and love that is caused by, due to, the gospel defined hope laid up for them in heaven (v. 5). Their faith is due to the gospel that fixed their eyes on what to expect from Him who is the hope of glory. Simply put: this is a rich way of saying that Paul thanks God for their faith in Christ Jesus and love for all the saints because God has given this faith and love to them. He called them by the gospel with an efficacious call. In this fallen world in darkness and alienation, when we see people with faith and love, we have one explanation: God!- who calls whom He wills and who saves every person that He calls. That is why all who love God and are called according to His purpose have the sure promise of every good in their future: all whom He calls, He justifies, and all He justifies, He glorifies. This one explanation yields one response: a heartfelt pouring out of the soul in gratitude to God. We can see why gospel fruitfulness and gospel increase is understood to be due to the grace of God (end of v. 6: you heard and understood the grace of God in truth). These folks understood it truly. To speak of the grace of God here as the gospel is saying that thankful worship of the triune God in prayer arises from understanding that sinners are reconciled by efficacious grace. Reconciliation of the dead in their transgressions is not something that the dead are able to effect. It takes the power of God s gospel of grace to raise people from the state of death and bring them into the kingdom of the living Christ. This is why Paul feels compelled to constantly, regularly, give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. C. Third, he gives thanks because your hope, he says, is according to the truth It is somewhat difficult to follow the streaming thoughts of where the long sentence with hope at its core continues with no period: We always thank God since we heard because of the hope of which you have heard in the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit (now take a breath). What we have here is more about the gospel that defines hope and produces faith and love. This is very down to earth regarding God s human instruments, particularly in the case of the Colossians. There is focus on Paul s fellow servant, Epaphras. This beloved brother proclaimed the gospel that brought them out of darkness and into Christ s kingdom. Epaphras told Paul (and company) about their love that evidenced their walk by faith in the Spirit. He is a teacher from whom they learned the gospel of the triune God. He is a beloved co-worker, and a faithful minister on behalf of the local church of Colossae. Therefore, Paul gives thanks to God that they learned the gospel of hope from such a servant. Thanks be to God who blessed him with a servant s heart and with faithfulness in teaching the gospel of grace. In summary, Paul is thankful because of the Christian hope that is incorruptible, defined by an efficacious gospel, and accords with the truth. Application To apply this text, let s take notice of how the example of Epaphras is a challenge to pastors and flocks down through the ages. He is an example for teachers, that they aspire by God s grace to be loving and faithful servants of Christ on behalf of His new covenant family. The place of Epaphras in the transition to the post-apostolic time of church history opens a door for reflection on the history of doctrine and doctrinal formulation. Let s start with a basic fact. 1. As you know, Paul as an apostle gives direct unilateral revelation from God in all that he proclaims in witness to Christ (both orally and in writing). Of course, all that he reveals is not inspired; just as all that Jesus said and did revealed God, but most of it was not inspired. True for both because I pause to allow you to answer because inspiration refers to inscripturation, the writing down of divine revelation. So, Paul s teaching of Epaphras conveyed the truth of God to him (of the gospel of grace) and Paul follows it up with writing to the Colossians. In this letter,

5 !5 he commends the faithfulness of Epaphras who though not a direct recipient of the word of God did receive it by faithful learning from Paul that he passed on to the Colossians faithfully. At this point, we have a glimpse of things to come in church history. The Lord has ordained that after the apostles the truth of His grace (of His efficacious grace in the gospel) be carried forth to accomplish His sovereign will through fallible men who are beloved and faithful servants of Christ on behalf of the new covenant people of God. Likewise, today, we receive the apostolic gospel through fallible instruction as did the Colossians from Epaphras. Of course, he worked hand in hand with the apostle Paul. Our place as ministers does not have that direct blessing, but it is similar because we work hand in hand with the apostolic gospel preserved for us in the writings of this book and all of Scripture. For the centuries, the Lord has so ordained that his church receive the apostolic gospel of grace, through fallible instruction. Ministers today work from the written text and that is the standard for all. Holy Scripture in 66 books is the sole standard for belief and practice. But each of us should take note: the church is the pillar of that truth (1 Tim 3.15) and is to continually hold it up in a good confession that must always be tested by the final standard of Scripture. And in good order, we all have a part in making this confession. As Paul teaches in Thessalonians, the holy and faithful ones that make up the church have the duty to test all things (1 Thess ; test the spirits and prophecies; 1 Cor 14 to test tongue-speech, and prophecies). The teaching of Epaphras and all ministers who follow in his footsteps must be tested and the standard is what Christ has given in writing through His commissioned and empowered apostles in the inspired and therefore infallible written word. And this is a joint task. 2. Now let me extend these thoughts to the doctrine of the trinity. In an interesting exchange of Muller with Frame (two important contemporary reformed theologians), a bottom line is that we all too easily fall into the trap of reading the text by our traditions, by our formulations. 1 This is especially self-evident in the traditions since the Reformation on the sacraments. In the discussion, Muller looks broadly to include the creeds and confessions. He gives an important reminder and cautionary. His emphasis is that we not only identify the presuppositions of others but our own, and that we do our best to weigh them by the text. Of course, we all read with our baggage in hand, but we need to test the baggage, test the presuppositions by which we see and understand the text. In this connection, the main lesson that I learned from Van Til is the requirement in critical thinking of presuppositional self-awareness. As he said, we all have them and must have them, but we must be aware of them and pray for openness to truly examine and test them, as best we can (at least to try with much prayer; with much promise for progress on insights). Thus we will remember that a presupposition is a control belief and we must ask, what controls what? For example, on redemption: do we approach the passages on extent (all, whole world) from the perspective of what we get from the passages on the nature of redemption (propitiation) or the other way around, nature from the perspective of extent? 2 1 The exchange can be found in Frame s article, Muller on Theology, WTJ 56, No. 1 (1994) and Muller s reply, The Study of Theology Revisited: A Response to John Frame, WTJ 56, No. 2 (1994) And in asking this we also ask: are we doing justice to the text in front of us? For example, regarding the language 2 of 1 John 2.2 on propitiation for sins of the whole world does our thinking on propitiation govern our thinking on whole world or vice versa? Here Warfield s bottom line is that the nature of propitiation is the satisfaction of wrath, endured once for all and this drives him to conclude that the difficult extent language of our sins and the sins of the whole world refer to the church in the present (our sins) and whole world refers to the church as the saved world of eternal glory. Also, worth evaluating is the way communion preaching focuses on texts with the virtual control belief in place that the text is to be studied to discover how Jesus is distinctly presented. We seek to remember Him in distinct focus in a way that subordinates other things such as our duties; His teaching with patient resolve is stressed over the slowness of our learning.

6 !6 We need this awareness when reading Colossians 1.3. Then, we will do a number of things in reflection on God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. First, we will recognize that this is not an expression of the doctrine of the trinity per se, of three persons and one essence. It does not state the doctrine that we have in our minds as formulated in the history of theology since the 4th century. Second, we will bring that formulation with us to the text (part of our baggage, our controlling belief) and test it (test what we hold, the church formulation) by the text. Third, we will try to confirm it from the text, always attentive to do justice to the text before us. As we showed earlier, what we find is that Colossians 1.3 is a piece of that puzzle that supports the doctrine because this text shows the distinction between the persons, that Jesus is one with God as the Lord. This goes with the affirmation of Paul (and the OT) that God is one. We are right in our intuition to hear in these verses the doctrine that we know as the trinity, even though that doctrine is not fully stated here. As to the fact of three distinct persons, we get that elsewhere in the many places where the relationship between the members of the Godhead is an I, you, he relationship. 3. Now let s widen our view and contrast this with the theological/biblical-theological reasoning of old wineskins to new. For example, the NT indicates change in Sabbath observance (on the day and on sanctions). It also reiterates the same promise of the eternal Sabbath that was made at the beginning of the world. There is continuity with discontinuity. This makes for some healthy wrestling as we work with our biases on the fourth command and the law as a whole. On the Godhead, the NT gives fullness to the revelation of the trinity from less to greater; from the Lord our God is one to God is the Father of the Lord God incarnate Jesus Christ. On the mystery of Christ and the Gentiles in Colossians, this involves the shift from what is revealed in promise and now revealed in fulfillment. We have the promises of Christ: He is the mystery; He is promised to come and now has come: the change is radical! Thus, there are many interesting history of redemption subjects in Colossians for our meditation as we go forward: trinity (1.3), mystery of Christ (2.2), circumcision/baptism ( ) and laws about diet, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths ( ). How we grasp these things in the big picture of Scripture is challenging. Considering them within the Colossian letter will test our metal as we go forward. These topics of huge OT-NT scope are worthy of much study and debate with one anothering love; they promise enrichment as we learn of Christ in the joy of fellowship with Him in it all. 4. So, in conclusion, let s ask a question. From Paul s report about prayer for the Colossians, do we have a basis to be thankful given the challenges today that we have to learn the gospel of saving grace? Yes, absolutely. Does gospel defined hope give us ground for thanksgiving? Yes, with a double absolutely. Does knowing this gospel defined hope is the gospel of efficacious grace give us cause to give thanks? Yes, with a triple absolutely! The prospect in front of us is as uplifting as it can get. Still, we can rise higher and almost catch on fire with gratitude galore in praise-filled thankfulness when we get hold of the fact that this hope laid up for us in heaven is the gift of Christ s work. It is the gift that emerges from the love of the Father for the Son before the foundation of the world. And on top of that, it is a treasure that cannot be tarnished; no rust can corrupt, no thief can break in and steal; it is laid up in heaven for you by the triune God of creation and redemption in all the glory of His attributes as infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. So, let us fall down before the majesty of God with commitment of heart and steadiness of will to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with continual expressions of thanksgiving; may the Lord bless us with faith, faithfulness, and love for all the saints and may He grant us the full joy of expectant hope by enabling us to fix our minds on the hope that cannot be destroyed because it is laid up for us in heaven, to the glory of the triune God, now in Christ s church and forevermore, amen.