INTRODUCTION:

1. The key phrase in our passage tonight is found in verse 6 -- "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him."
2. "Walking" in Scripture refers to our manner of life. The Christian life is not sedentary; it is a "walk." "Walking" means going forward.
3. "Even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4b).
4. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1).
5. "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (II Cor. 5:7).
6. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).
7. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
8. Paul says in Ephesians 4:1, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."
9. "That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory" (I Thess. 2:12).
10. "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:6).
11. "And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it" (II John 6).
12. "For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth" (III John 3).
13. The churches in Colossae and Laodicea were under attack by false teachers (Gnostics). In Colossians 2:1 and 2, Paul says he wanted them to understood the seriousness of this spiritual battle and the "solicitude which he had had on their account" (Barnes' Notes).
14. By walking in Christ, believers would be protected (cf. 2:4-7). W.H. Griffith Thomas said, "Thus there is here a simple illustration of the relation between the acceptance of Christ in conversion and the appropriation of Him in sanctification (cf. I Cor. 1:30)...is first instantaneous, then progressive; it is first an act, then an attitude; it is first a crisis, then a process; it is first an obtaining, then a maintaining" (Studies in Colossians).

 

I. WALK WITH A FULL UNDERSTANDING (2:2).

1. "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love..." (2:2).
2. False doctrine leads to instability, confusion, irritability, and disorder. But the right doctrine brings comfort, love, and understanding (2:2).
3. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, "In every connection it can be repeated without hesitation or apology that the only safeguard against error for the Christian is a full knowledge of Christ (2:3)."
4. A "mystery" (2:2) in the New Testament refers to a doctrine not clearly taught or developed in the Old Testament, which is now revealed in the New Testament (cf. 1:26, 27).
5. Regarding the "mystery of God" in Colossians 2:2, the Scofield Study Bible says, "The 'mystery of God' is Christ, as incarnating the fulness of the Godhead, and all the divine wisdom and knowledge for the redemption and reconciliation of man" (p. 1263).
6. This "mystery" is developed in Paul's epistles. In I Timothy 3:16, Christ is referred to as God "manifest in the flesh."
7. Colossians 2:9 says, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

 

II. WALK IN ORDER (2:5-7).

1. "Order" is a military term. The apostle Paul frequently used military terms -- "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (II Tim. 2:3).
2. "Rooted" (2:7) is an agricultural word, and Paul frequently used agricultural terms -- "The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits" (II Tim. 2:6).
3. When Christians are "rooted" properly, they grow properly. But when Christians are not "rooted" properly, they do not grow properly, and they are "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Eph. 4:14).
4. "Built up" (2:7) is a construction term, and Paul frequently used construction terms -- "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure" (II Timothy 2:19). We are built up (edified) through regular church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, etc.

 

III. WALK WITH THANKSGIVING (2:7).

1. We should not only be thankful, we should be "abounding with thanksgiving" (2:7b).
2. It is a blessing to be around thankful Christians. It is vexatious to be around unthankful and ungrateful people.

 

CONCLUSION :

1. I framed tonight's message around verse 6. I realize there are exceptions to every rule, but unless one is a sleepwalker, it is impossible to walk without thinking about where you are going.
2. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said once that he never passed a single quarter of an hour in his waking moments without a distinct consciousness of the presence of the Lord.
3. To me that is what the apostle Paul means here in our text.
4. And though I framed my message around verse 6, in many ways verse 3 is the key verse to the epistle -- “In whom (Christ) are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”