Twentieth Century New Testament - 35 - Colossians and Philemon

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The Letter to the Colasians, and the Letter to Phileman
from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by J. A. Carter www dot authentic light dot org.

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The twentieth Century New Testament by a company of about
twenty scholars. The Letter to the Collagians Introduction and Chapters
one through four, and the Letter to Phileman, also with
an introduction. The Letter to the Colasians introduction. Paul's Letter
to the Christians at Calasse, written probably during his imprisonment

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at Rome about sixty one a d. Colossi was a
town in Roman Asia which had once been a place
of considerable importance, but which at the time of this
letter had lost much of its former prosperity. It is
not a fear that Saint Paul had had any close
personal connection with the church at Colossie, but it is
plain from the letter itself that his authority was recognized
over a wide area. The apostle's attention had been drawn

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to the church at Colossie by a visit which he
received from Epaphras, who had been closely associated with the
Christians living there, and who had told Paul of a
dangerous heresy which threatened to undermine the religious life of
his fellow Christians in that place. This heresy consisted in
a teaching drawn from the atmosphere of mystical speculation and
with no foundation in history, which attempted to bridge the

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chasm between God and man by the assumption that there
were many angelic mediators. The necessity of this assumption lay
in the prevalent error that all matter was evil and
therefore in direct opposition to God. Two obvious inferences from
this heresy were the duty of the worship of angels
and the need for rigid asceticism against such unsatisfying mediation

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that its consequent dangers. Saint Paul sets the life, work,
and person of the historical Christ, the one, all sufficient Mediator,
the head of all creation. The obscurity of this letter
is due partly to the ruggedness and compression of the
apostle style, and partly to the fact that the letter
combats a form of heretical teaching which is by no

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means familiar to the reader of today. Chapter one to
Christ's people at Colossie, the brothers who are faithful to Him.
From Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God, and from Timothy our brother. May God our Father,
bless you and give you peace. Whenever we pray, we
never fail to thank God, the Father of our Lord,

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Jesus Christ, about you, now that we have heard of
your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that
you have for all His people, on account of the
hope which awaits its fulfillment in Heaven. Of this hope
you heard long ago in the true message of the
good News which reached you bearing fruit and growing as
it does through all the world, just as it did
among you. From the very day that you heard of
God's loving kindness and n understood what that loving kindness

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really is. It is just what you learned from Apaphrras,
our dear fellow servant, who as a minister of the
Christ faithfully represents us, and who told us of the
love with which the Spirit has inspired you. And therefore we,
from the very day that we heard this, have never
ceased praying for you, or asking that you may possess
that deeper knowledge of the will of God, which comes
through all true spiritual wisdom and insight. Then you will

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live lives worthy of the Master, and so please God
in every way. Your lives will be fruitful in every
kind of good action, and your characters will grow through
a fuller knowledge of God. You will be made strong
at all points where the strength worthy of the power
manifested in his glory, Strong to endure with patience and
even with gladness, whatever may befall you, and you will

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give thanks to the Father who made you fit to
share the lot which awaits Christ's people in the realms
of light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny
of darkness and has removed us into the kingdom of
His Son, who is the embodiment of his love, through
whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.
For Christ is the very incarnation of the invisible God,

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first born and head of all creation. For in him
was created all that is in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible, angels and archangels, in all
the powers of heaven. All has been created through Him,
and for him He was before all things, and all
things unite in him. And he is the head of

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the Church, which is his body, the first born from
the dead. He is to the Church the source of
its life, that he in all things may stand first.
For it pleased the Father that in him the divine
nature and all its fullness should dwell, and through him
to reconcile all things to himself, making peace by the
shedding of Christ's blood offered upon the cross, whether on

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earth or in heaven. And it pleased God that you,
once estranged from Him and hostile toward Him in your thoughts,
intend only on wickedness. But now He has reconciled you
in himself by the sacrifice of Christ's earthly body and death.
It has pleased God that you should stand in His
presence wholly, pure and blameless, if only you remain true

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to your faith, firm and immovable, never abandoning the hope
held out in the good news to which you listened,
which has been proclaimed among all created things under heaven,
and of which I Paul, was made a minister. Now
at last I can rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf,
and in my own person. I supplement the afflictions endured
by the Christ for the sake of His body, the

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Church of which I myself became a minister, in virtue
of the office with which God intrusted me for your benefit,
to declare the message of God in all its fullness,
that truth which has been hidden from former ages and generations,
but now it has been revealed to God's people, to
whom it was his pleasure to make known the surpassing
glory of the hidden truth. When proclaimed among the gentiles, Christ,

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among you your hope of glory. This is the Christ
whom we proclaim, warning every one and instructing everyone with
all the wisdom that we possess, in the hope of
bringing every one into God's presence perfected by union with Christ.
It is for that I toil, struggling with all the
energy which He inspires and which works powerfully within me.

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Chapter two. I want you to know in how great
a struggle I am engaged for you and for Christ's
people at Ladicea, and for all who have not yet
seen me, in the hope that they, being bound to
one another by love and keeping in view the full
blessedness of a firm conviction, may be encouraged to strive
for a perfect knowledge of God's hidden truth, even Christ himself,

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in whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie hidden.
I say this to prevent anyone from deceiving you by
plausible arguments. It is true that I am not with
you in person, but I am with you in spirit,
and am glad to see the good order and the
unbroken front resulting from your faith in Christ. Since therefore
you have received Jesus the Christ as your Lord, live

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your lives in union with Him, rooted in Him, building
up your characters through union with Him, growing stronger through
your faith as you were taught overflowing with faith and thanksgiving.
Take care. There is not someone who will carry you
away by his philosophy, a hollow sham, following as it does,
mere human traditions and dealing with the puerile questions of

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this world, and not with Christ. For in Christ, the
god Head, in all its fullness, dwells incarnate, and by
your union with Him, you also are filled with it.
He is the head of all archangels and powers of heaven.
By your union with Him, you received a circumcision that
was not performed by human hands. When you threw off

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the tyranny of the earthly body and received the circumcision
of the Christ. For in baptism you were buried with Christ,
and in baptism you were also raised to life with
Him through your faith in the omnipotence of God who
raised Him from the dead. And to you, who once
were dead by reason of your sins and your uncircumcised nature,
to you, God gave life. In giving life to Christ,

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he pardoned all our sins. He canceled the bond which
stood against us, the bond that consisted of ordinances, and
which was directly hostile to us. He has taken it
out of the way by nailing it to the cross.
He rid himself of all the powers of evil and
held them up to open contempt when he celebrated his
triumph over them on the cross. Do not then, allow

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anyone to take you to task on questions of eating
or drinking, or in the matter of annual or monthly
or weekly festivals. These things are only the shadow of
what is to come. The substance is in the Christ.
Do not let anyone defraud you of the reality by
affecting delight in so called humility and angel worship. Such

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a man busies himself with his visions and without reason,
is rendered conceited by merely human intellect. He fails to
maintain union with the Head, to whom it is due
that the whole body, nourished and knit together by the
contact and connection of every part, grows with a divine growth.
Since with Christ you became dead to the puerile teaching
of this world, why do you submit, as though your

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life were still that of the world to such ordinances
as do not handle, or taste or touch, For all
the things referred to in them cease to exist when used.
You are following mere human directions and instructions. Such prohibitions
appear reasonable where there is a desire for self imposed
service and so called humility and harsh treatment of the body,

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but are of no real value against the indulgence of
our earthly nature. Chapter three. Since therefore you were raised
to life with the Christ, seek for the things that
are above, for it is there that the Christ is
seated at the right hand of God. Fix your thoughts
upon the things that are above, not upon those that
are on the earth, For you died, and your life

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now lies hidden with the Christ in God. When the Christ,
who is our life appears, then you also will appear
with Him in glory. Therefore, destroy all that is earthly
in you, immorality, uncleanness, passions, evil desires, and that greed
which is idolatry. These are the things on account of
which the wrath of God comes, and to which you,

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like others, once devoted your lives. When you live for them. You, however,
must now lay aside all such things anger, passion, malice, slander, abuse,
Never lie to one another. Get rid of your old
self and its habits, and clothe yourselves with the new self, which,
as it gains in knowledge, is being constantly renewed in
resemblance to Him who made it. In that new life.

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There is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised,
Barbarian Scythian slave freemen. But Christ is all and in all. Therefore,
as God's people consecrated and dear to Him, clothe yourself
with tenderness of heart, kindliness, humility, gentleness, forbearance, bearing with

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one another, and when there is any ground for complaint,
forgiving one another freely, as the Master freely forgave you,
so you must forgive one another. Over all these virtues.
Put on love, for that is the girdle that makes
all complete. Let the peace that the Christ gives decide
all doubts within your hearts, for you also were called

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to the enjoyment of peace as members of one body,
and show yourselves thankful. Let the message of the Christ
dwell in your minds in all its wealth, bring all
wisdom with it. Teach and admonish one another with psalms
and hymns and sacred songs full of the loving kindness
of God, lifting your hearts in song to Him. And
whatever you say or do, do everything in the name

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of the Lord Jesus, and through him, offer thanksgiving to
God the Father. Wives. Submit your husbands as befits those
who belong to the Lord. Husbands. Love your wives, and
never treat them harshly. Children. Always obey your parents, for
that is pleasant to see in those who belong to

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the Lord. Fathers. Never irritate your children, lest they should
become disheartened. Slaves. Always obey your earthly masters, not only
when their eyes are on you, as if you had
but to please men, but giving them ungrudging service and
your reverence for the Master. Whatever you do, do it

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with all your heart, as if working for the Master.
And not for men, since you know that it is
from the Master that you will receive the inheritance which
will be your recompense. You are serving Christ the Master.
Those who do wrong will reap the wrong they have done,
and there will be no partiality. Chapter four. Masters, do

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what is right and fair by your slaves, for you
know that you also have a master in heaven. Devote
yourselves to prayer, give your whole mind to it, and
also offer thanksgiving. And at the same time pray for
us that God may give us an opening for our message,
so that we may speak of the truths hidden in
the Christ, the truths for which I am in chains.

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Then I shall make them known as I ought to do.
Show tact in your behavior to the outside world, making
the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation always be
kindly and seasoned, as it were with salt, that you
may know in each case what answer you ought to give.
Our dear brother Tychkus will tell you all about me.

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He is a faithful minister and a fellow servant in
the Master's cause. I send him to you expressly that
you may learn our circumstances, and that he may give
you encouragement with him will be Onesimus, our dear fellow brother,
who is one of yourselves. They will tell you all
that is going on here. My fellow prisoner, Aristarchus sends

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you his greeting, and Barnabas's cousin Mark sends his. You
have received directions about him. If he comes to you,
make him welcome. Joshua, who is called Justice, also sends
his greeting. These are the only converts from Judaism who
have worked with me for the Kingdom of God. I
found them a great comfort. Epaphrius, who is one of yourselves,

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sends you his greeting. He is a servant of Christ Jesus,
and is always most earnest in your behalf in his prayers,
praying that you may stand firm with a matured faith
and with a sure conviction of all that is in
accordance with God's will. I can bear testimony to the
deep interest He takes in you, as well as in
the brethren at Ladicea and at Heropolis. Luke, our dear doctor,

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sends you his greeting, and Demus sends his. Give my
greeting to the brethren at Leadica and to Nympha, and
to the church that meets at her house. And when
this letter has been read to you, see that it
is also read before the church at Ladicea, and that
you yourselves read the letter which will be forwarded from there.
Give this message to Archippus. Take care to discharge to

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the best of your ability, the office to which you
were appointed in the Master's cause. I Paul add this
greeting in my own handwriting. Remember these chains of mine.
God's blessing be with you. End of the Letter to
the Collagians. The Letter to Philemon introduction Saint Paul's letter

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to Philemon, written probably during his imprisonment at Rome about
sixty one A. D on Issimus, who was the bearer
of this letter, had been a slave to Philemon. He
had robbed his master and run away from him, but
on reaching Rome he had come under the influence of
Saint Paul and had been converted to Christianity. Philemon, who
lived probably at Ladicea in Asia Minor, was also one

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of the Apostles converts, and Saint Paul sent Onisimus back
to him with this letter, asking Philemon to forgive him
and to receive him as a brother. Christian Philemen, to
our dear friend and fellow worker Philemon, to our sister Aphia,
and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church
that meets at Philemon's house. From Paul, now a prisoner

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for Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, a brother, May God,
our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and
give you peace. I always mention you in my prayers
and thank God for you, because I hear of the
love and the faith which you show not only to
the Lord Jesus, but also to all his people. And
I pray that your participation in the faith may result

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in action as you come to a fuller realization of
everything that is good and christ Like in us. I
have indeed found great joy and encouragement in your love,
knowing as I do, how the hearts of Christ's people
have been cheered brother by you. And so though my
union with Christ enables me with all confidence to dictate
the course that you should adopt, yet the claims of

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love make me prefer to plead with you. Yes, even me, Paul,
though I am an ambassador of Christ Jesus and now
a prisoner for Him as well, I plead with you
for this child of mine, Anissimus, to whom in my
prison I have become a father. Once he was of
little service to you, but now he has become a
great service, not only to you, but to me as well.

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And I am sending him back to you with this letter,
though it is like tearing out my very heart. For
my own sake, I should like to keep him with me,
so that while I am in prison for the good news,
he might attend to my wants on your behalf. But
I do not wish to do anything without your consent,
because I want your generosity to be voluntary and not
as it were compulsory. It may be that he was

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separated from you for an hour for this very reason,
that you might have him back forever, no longer as
a slave, but as something better, A dearly loved brother,
especially dear to me, and how much more to you,
not only as your fellow man, but as your fellow Christian.
If then you count me as your friend, receive him
as you would me. If he has caused you any

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loss or owes you anything, charge it to me, I, Paul,
put my hand to it. I will repay you myself.
I say nothing about your owing me your very self. Yes, brother,
let me gain something from you because of your union
with the Lord. Cheer my heart by your christ like spirit.
Even as I write, I have such confidence in your

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compliance with my wishes that I am sure that you
will do even more than I am asking. Please also
get a lodging ready for me, for I hope that
I shall be given back to you all in answer
to your prayers. Epaphras, who is my fellow prisoner for
Christ Jesus, sends you his greeting. And Marcus, Aristarchus, Demus
and Luke, my fellow workers, send theirs. May the blessing

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of the Lord Jesus Christ rest on your souls. End
of the Letter to Philemen. End of the Letter to
Collagians and the Letter to Philemen.