Outline:
Text: Colossians 2:1-5 “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ” (ESV).
Paul’s struggle on behalf of the Church is that they might be spiritually strengthened, thereby securing them in the faith.
I. The Struggle (v. 1)
- “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you”
- Paul struggles for them in prayer, preaching, and penning.
II. The Strengthening (vv. 2-3)
- “That their hearts may be encouraged”
- Paul is not speaking of shallow sympathy but spiritual strengthening!
III. The Securing (vv. 4-5)
- “I say this in order that no one may delude you”
- “rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ”