We'll be reading about one of the several challenges that we find to Jesus in the gospels in a parable that should be familiar to us. I heard a story not that long ago. It was about an FBI operation that was set up to catch a telephone scammer. And in the story there was a woman, she was sweet and mild, an older woman, named Marge. And they recorded these conversations between her and the telephone scammer. And it all sounded innocent enough, and yet she was an FBI informant. And they used those conversations and those recordings to catch these guys from what they were doing. And they turned the tables. They turned the tables on the conmen. And the reporter said that it turns out that happens all of the time. The more confidence one has in their scam, the more likely they are to have the tables turned on them. And the reporter said there just seems to be something about the particular arrogance of always being on the knowing side of the con that makes for a really good mark, to have the tables turned.

Before we read it a little, let me quickly say a word of thanks. Ed and Emily Hartman, I think, are taking a few days well deserved to recover from the busyness of Mission Conference but we do owe them a great debt, as well as Beth Archer and the Missions Conference Committee and all of you who were involved, some of you in unrecognized ways behind the scenes working away. You’ve been a host. You’ve provided meals. You’ve done countless small tasks that have gone unthanked and I do want to express my own deep gratitude. I found the Mission Conference this year to be an enormous blessing. If you have not, or you were unable, or you found yourself missing certain portions of the conference, I believe all the sessions are recorded. Please go to the website and do yourself a favor. You will find them to be enormously helpful and a great blessing. So thank you if you were a part of it. Thank you for attending and making it such a blessed time.

Before we read it a little, let me quickly say a word of thanks. Ed and Emily Hartman, I think, are taking a few days well deserved to recover from the busyness of Mission Conference but we do owe them a great debt, as well as Beth Archer and the Missions Conference Committee and all of you who were involved, some of you in unrecognized ways behind the scenes working away. You’ve been a host. You’ve provided meals. You’ve done countless small tasks that have gone unthanked and I do want to express my own deep gratitude. I found the Mission Conference this year to be an enormous blessing. If you have not, or you were unable, or you found yourself missing certain portions of the conference, I believe all the sessions are recorded. Please go to the website and do yourself a favor. You will find them to be enormously helpful and a great blessing. So thank you if you were a part of it. Thank you for attending and making it such a blessed time.

Do let me direct your attention to verses 8 through 10. One of the things you’ll notice immediately if you cast your eye over these three verses is that Paul is setting up a contrast. On the one hand, there’s what he calls the philosophy of certain teachers who have been introducing their message into the Colossian church, their philosophy. And that’s in contrast to Paul’s message focused on the person and the work of Jesus Christ. And these three verses are really designed to show us two alternatives. There’s the philosophy of the teachers and there’s the Christian Gospel. For Paul, you see, the Colossians were at a fork in the road, at a junction, and the question is, “Which path will they follow?”

Peter O’Brien, one of the commentators on this letter, says that these two verses “are the heart of the letter.” They form sort of a hinge. The first part leading up to this point, Paul uses many of the same phrases, much of the vocabulary that has been at the very heart of his message thus far is used in these two verses so there’s sort of a summarizing going on in these two verses of everything he’s said. But he’s also about to transition to a new segment of the letter where he’s a little more pointed in responding to the mistakes of the false teachers who had been troubling the Colossian churches. So this is a pivotal portion of the letter; it’s the heart of the letter.

You may remember, if you were with us last time, that Paul at the end of chapter 1 has begun to defend his ministry. There were false teachers at Colossae undermining his message, but also assaulting and undermining his ministry. He’s defending himself; he’s continuing to defend his ministry in these first five verses of chapter 2 as well, only now he really seems to bear his heart to us. We get a sense of the burdens that he feels for the Colossian Christians. Here are the priorities that drive him; the great concerns that preoccupy him and for which he struggles so mightily. Verse 1, he says he’s struggling so much on their behalf, the Colossians and for the Laodiceans and for all who have not seen him face to face, he says, “I’m doing that because I want your hearts to be encouraged,” verse 2, “and knit together in love.” But even that is not his ultimate goal. His great priority doesn’t terminate on their encouragement and on their unity, but that is itself a means to a greater end; the greater end being that they may “reach all the riches of the full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of the mystery of God, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Full assurance - that’s the great priority, the great burden of his heart. That’s what he’s struggling for to see realized in the lives of the Colossians and all the churches of the Lycus Valley, the Laodiceans as well. Full assurance.

Now, this morning, beginning in verse 12, we’re going to see him engage more directly with their mistake. And as we read verses 12 through 34 together, I want you to be on the lookout for three themes. Three themes to see here. First, in verses 12 through 19, the pitiable consequences of a dead Christ. If there’s no resurrection, well then, so what? What difference does it make? Paul’s going to show us the pitiable consequences of a dead Christ. That’s 12 to 19. Then in 20 through 28, the precious consequences of the risen Christ. The fact is, Christ has risen and there are marvelous implications that result from it. Then in 29 to 34, in the third place, the practical consequences of following Christ. Paul presses the implications of the resurrection of Jesus down into three areas as we’ll see in particular of practicality for the church and for our lives. So the pitiable consequences of a dead Christ, the precious consequences of a risen Christ, the practical consequences of following Christ. That’s where we’re going. Before we turn to consider the passage, however, let me invite you once again to bow with me as we pray. Let us pray.