Our New Testament lesson this morning comes from Colossians chapter 2. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, a bounding in Thanksgiving, the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Well, I want you to think this for this morning as I introduce our sermon. I want you to imagine a man, a man that is kneeling in prayer, and this man is weeping. The sound of his earnest prayer is bearing the mark of a man that is pleading with God. He is pleading on behalf of people that he loves deeply. This man is to be later seen publicly exhorting the people to live for Christ. There is fervor in this man's voice and passion in his words. It is clear that he is full of the power, conviction of the Holy Spirit. And yet, when he finally finishes, it is clear that he has been involved as he has been praying in a mighty struggle. Still later, we see this man interacting with people that he loves and he is challenging them to live the faith that they have professed. And the man I'm talking about is the Apostle Paul. This is how I imagine him carrying on the ministry that God had entrusted him to him. It is clear to me from scripture that Paul's whole life and ministry revolved around the fact that God gave him the gospel to preach and for the growth of the church. This is clear. We're going to be looking in Colossians. So if you don't already have your Bible open, please turn in your Bible to the book of Colossians. Paul's thoughts are clear in chapter 1 verses 28 and 29. He says, him we proclaim warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present and notice what he wants his goal is, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil struggling with all his energy that so powerfully works within me. Paul's heart's desire was to see people brought to maturity in Christ. This was the work that he heartily embraced. And I think it was an agonizing work for him, an emotional gut wrenching work probably at times. And those of us that are pastors, elders, ministers of any kind with people, we know what that's like. Paul wanted to see the people grow in Christ. So this brings us to our main text for this morning that's already been read in Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 and 7. It's short but pithy. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walking him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving. There are three things that we see here or that I see in general. First is the necessity of walking the believers walking with Christ. Paul says this, you've received him. You've received Christ now walking him. Why the need for this exhortation? Is this simply Paul stating the obvious? I don't really think that it is. You see, I think it's possible, at least externally it seems like for a person to receive Christ. That is to have a form of intellectual ascent to the gospel, to have a head full of knowledge about Christ and to not walk with him. That's possible. It is possible to receive Christ and then be sidetracked. It is possible to be distracted. It is possible to receive Christ and then be way laid. But what does it mean to walk in Christ? If the exhortation is, you've received him, now walk in him. What does this mean? The word here in the Greek has the idea of walking around, walking around doing this and doing that. It is used as a figure of speech that deals with one's life and one's behavior. How one carries oneself in his or her life. The way one comes and goes comprises one's walk in this sense. This is a metaphor that's very, very common in Paul's writings, as you probably know, this whole idea of walking. Sometimes Paul refers to walking in the spirit. I think that there are at least several aspects to what it means to walk in Christ. And by the way, I can only cover a few of the ones that I found in the New Testament, but an interesting study for you to do if you're not doing a study now and you want to study the word walk in the New Testament. See how that idea of walking with Christ, walking in the spirit, is developed in the New Testament. So I'll just give you some thoughts here. What does it mean to walk with Christ? Straight from Scripture. Number one, to walk with Christ means to walk in the good works that he has called us to do. In Ephesians 2, chapter 10, Ephesians 2, verse 10. We find out that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared for us to do that we should walk in them. A man or woman, a boy or a girl who is walking with Christ is walking in good works. Not good works that they are conjuring up from within somehow by their own strength, but good works that the Holy Spirit is giving, that the Holy Spirit is developing. That's the mark of someone who's following Christ. Someone that's walking with Christ is good works just like Jesus had. There is fruit to be seen in such a life. Someone that is walking in Christ is about God's business, about their Father's business, just as Christ was. So to walk in Christ, walk with Christ means to walk in the good works that he has called us to do. Another idea, walking in Christ. To walk in Christ means to have a worthy walk. To have a worthy walk and it kind of ties in with the one we just saw. First, Thessalonians 2, 12 talks about us walking worthy of the calling in which we have been called. A worthy walk is a walk that adorns the gospel, right? It adorns the gospel as we read in Titus chapter 2. Someone looks at you and says, wow, that person must be one of Christ's. I can tell by the way that he or she lives their life. So to walk in Christ means to have a worthy walk. Sometimes it's helpful to define things by what they're not or by their opposites. And walking with Christ, walking in Christ is also characterized by what it is not. By what it is not. Ephesians 4, 17, reminds us that we must not walk in the same way as the Gentiles. I.e. the pagans do. Right? That was how the New Testament talked about God's people. There was God's people. Then there were the Gentiles or the pagans, right? And there was to be a distinction. There was to be a difference. And the one who is walking in Christ must not walk in the same way that the pagans walk. One who is walking with Christ will not look the same. The walk of faith must be characteristically different than the walk of a non-believer. We are no longer motivated by what motivates them. Think about the things that motivate your unbelieving friends and neighbors and think about what motivates you. There's a difference or there should be. What makes us joyful is not the same thing as what makes them happy. How we raise our children is fundamentally different from how they raise their children. I guess I should use rear there. We raise corn, rear children, right? How we think is fundamentally different from how they think our world views are not the same. Their thinking is futile. In other words, it ends up nowhere. It's no good. It's no purpose. It takes them nowhere. They are darkened that we read in their understanding and they're alienated from the life of God. It should not be possible to look at one who is walking in Christ and not be able to tell the difference. Another one, a Christian, one who is walking in Christ, walks in love. For a sake of time, I'm not going to elaborate much on them, but a Christian ought to be characterized. One who is walking with Christ, walking in Christ, should have be characterized by a love for others. Both friends, family, and even Jesus taught us to love our enemies, didn't he? Another thing that characterizes walking with Christ, one who is walking with Christ is walking in the light, in the light. While non-believers and pagans are stumbling around in the darkness, they don't know the way. Have you ever noticed? Sometimes I go to places where there are people and I just think to myself, people are by and large walking around in darkness, stumbling around, not knowing which way is up, hoping to get through to the weekend and hoping that something somewhere becomes meaningful. While they are stumbling around in the darkness and hopefully we're loving them enough to proclaim the gospel to them, we are walking in the light because God's Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. That is what one thing it means to walk in Christ. A Christian walks in wisdom, one who walks in Christ walks in wisdom. Not the world's wisdom. The world has a kind of a wisdom, don't they? Not the world's wisdom, which is everywhere around us, but in God's perfect wisdom. It is amazing that the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. They look at God's wisdom and go, what? How does that compute? The Christian, however, one who's walking in Christ turns to Christ for wisdom when it is needed and Christ gives to all men who ask for it. We read in James chapter one. So the one who walks in with Christ walks in Christ walks in wisdom. One who walks in Christ must walk as Jesus walked. Jesus is to be our example in all things. He is our ultimate example of humility. We find that in Philippians two. He is our example of wisdom. He is our example of kindness and compassion. He is our example in righteous living. We used to have not too long ago. A lot of people were wearing the t-shirts and bracelets and bumper stickers that said WWJD. Now, it's not possible for us to do everything that Jesus did. That acronym, of course, stands for what would Jesus do. But I understand the intent is, Jesus is an example. He's more than an example, certainly, but he is an example that we should follow. And we are, according to 1 John, to walk as Jesus walked following him. How are you going to walk as someone else walks? It's probably going to follow them. They go this way, you go that way. If they do this, you do that, right? Walking in Christ. Finally, one who is walking in Christ walks in the truth. They walk in the truth. A couple of references there would be 2 John, 1, 4, 3 John, 1, 3, and 4. They don't walk in falsehood, deception, lies, deceit. So if we had to sum up what it means to walk in Christ, and we could probably do a whole sermon series just on walking in Christ, but if we had to sum up, we might come to the conclusion that to walk in Christ is to allow Christ to make a difference in the way we live from day to day. Those who are walking in Christ will have a different kind of home life than the world. Husbands will be loving wives. I appreciate the prayer this morning that was prayed that men would be pursuing their wives with the love of Christ. Wives will be loving husbands. Children will be honoring and submitting to their parents and parents will be bringing up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. This is what it means to walk in Christ. Those who are walking in Christ will have a different attitude in the workplace than those who are not walking in Christ. I've had experiences in my workplace where I've seen people and how they do their work and how they complain about the job and all these things, right? But a Christian is not serving themself, where they're bossy and they're serving Christ. So every sphere of life will be influenced by this walking in Christ. All right. So Paul says, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him. Go and live as he lived. Let it make a difference in your life. But then he goes on, take a look. Notice the necessity of an established faith. Notice the necessity of an established faith. He says, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught. A Christian must be rooted in Christ. Clearly, this is an illusion to the plant kingdom, right? And we must think, and we might think particularly of trees, just for example. The roots of a tree perform at least two important functions for the tree. Okay, if you're a biologist or a science type of a person, you know this. First, the roots are the way the tree imbibes nourishment into itself, right? A sap comes, we suck in the water in the roots and the sap flows and it goes up and goes out to the branches and the leaves. Roots reach out their fingers in every direction in search for the needed sustenance, don't they? What's the second function that the tree roots perform? Well, they form a foundation that provides structural support for the tree. The roots allow the tree to grip the ground and provide stability when the winds blow like they sometimes do around here. If you remember, Ike, a few years ago, or the derecho last year, when the winds blow and beat against the tree during the summer, particularly, those roots provide stability to the tree so that it won't topple over. We've all seen trees that outwardly looked very strong and yet a medium-sized wind comes along and down comes the tree, right? Because the root system, the root structure was not there. The root structure was lacking. Psalm 1 speaks to this metaphor of the tree. The righteous are like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in the proper season. The leaves of this tree do not wither. Why? It's because the roots are going deep and bringing water into the trunk and nourishing the tree. Now, what does it mean for a Christian to be rooted and build up in Christ? First of all, let me say this, I fear, and by the way, I sometimes talk about myself when I preach, and so I'm not just preaching this way, preaching this way. As well. I fear that a lot of Christians today have very poorly developed root systems. These may look healthy and well nourished from the outside, but let the storms of trials boil up or the winds of temptation blow and they fall suddenly because there was no foundation. Let the sun of life's pressures beat down on the leaves, and they will wither and die, won't they? In the verses leading up to the passage that we are interested in this morning that we've been looking at here, we see Paul warning his readers to be careful not to be deluded by plausible arguments. You see that back up a little ways. He doesn't want them to be deluded by the world's wisdom, by their plausible arguments. For the man or woman with no good root system, worldly wisdom and plausible arguments look exactly that plausible. Hmm, that looks good. This new philosophy, this new trend, this new fad, this new way of thinking seems good, and they are sucked in by that. Worldly wisdom looks real good. In fact, it seems right sometimes to embrace the world's philosophy and vain thinking of paganism and the tree withers and dies. Maybe you've observed this in the life of a loved one or someone that you're close to. How then is a strong root system developed? How does one move from being a mere sapling, right, to a towering strong oak? How does that happen? Paul alludes to it right here in the text. Take a look. He says in verse seven, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught. Just as you were taught. The spirit of God makes use of sound teaching to help grow the roots of his people. There is no substitute for sound biblical teaching. Turn in your Bibles real quickly to Ephesians, if you would, Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four starting in verse 11 just by way of getting another perspective on this. Starting in verse 11 of Ephesians chapter four, what does Paul say? He says, and he gave the apostles the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. When each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Here we see that God has graced the church with pastors and teachers who are able to teach and equip people for the work of the ministry. Note that in the days of the old covenant there were apostles, we don't have apostles wandering around today, but we have elders and pastors and teachers that help us learn. May God grant us teachers and preachers who are convinced that the Word of God must be taught, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, so that the people of God will grow in grace and in knowledge of him. It's easy for us sometimes to think I'm afraid that we really know all there is to know. I think sometimes we have a tendency to think to ourselves or even to say out loud sometimes we don't need any more doctrine or teaching. Just tell me how I should live, right? I know I'm tempted this way many times. Just tell me how I should live, what I should do, but we need teaching. We need teaching. Right teaching, sometimes we say orthodoxy, right? Right teaching leads to right living. Orthodoxy, right? You need the teaching first and then it's followed by the right living. If you leave out the teaching part it's like building the superstructure with no foundation. The teaching is what gives us roots. Let's recommit ourselves to the priority of the teaching ministry within the church so that people begin to lay down roots that go deep. This brings me to another related point and it is this. At the individual level you must put yourself in a position to be taught. You must put yourself in a position to be taught. How will your roots grow if you are not intentionally placing yourself in a position to be taught from the Word of God? Listen to this. There is no substitute for the faithful, weekly attendance to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. There is no substitute for that. And I know our world wants to downplay that and sometimes I fear even in the church. But the weekly attendance to the Word of God is how God has chosen to give us roots, to build us up. The old Puritans used to call the Lord's Day, the market day of the soul. The market day of the soul and they would consider themselves to be coming together to hear God's Word and to gather up the provisions needed for their spiritual life in the week that followed. Purpose in your heart that you will from this time forward be committed to hearing the Word of God preached from week to week, month to month, year to year. Your self and your family. This is how we grow. Without it, the saints will shrivel up and die, won't they? Well, I must quickly press on here. He also says that Christians ought to be built up. They ought to be built up. Once the foundation is laid, once the roots are secure, then the superstructure can be built. This is a metaphor that is very common in the New Testament, isn't it? Very common in the New Testament. Notice that this growth, if we look in Ephesians 4, has a corporate feel to it. Sometimes I think we kind of get an individual feel to the growth, but the growth is really as a body, isn't it? It has individual benefits, but we grow in many ways as a body, as we're built together into the body of Christ. There is no such thing as a lone Christian, right? God has planted you within the body. You're part of the structure. You're part of the building that is being built. The temple. God's holy temple. You are part of that. You are a living stone. Now, I want to give you as we come in for a landing, hopefully, here. I want to give you a couple things related to this. I want to give you a couple of marks of immaturity. We're talking this morning about moving on to maturity. What does immaturity look like? If you're not mature in Christ, an immature Christian will lack discernment when it comes to spiritual truths. For the immature Christian, there's no grid. No biblical filter that helps them weed out what is true and what is false. They tend to latch on to every new spiritual insight, quote, that comes along. Paul deals with that in Colossians. He talks about things like food and drink and worship of angels and various things as you move on down through chapter 2 of Colossians. And the immature Christian is easily sucked in by these things. The immature Christian is easily sucked in by, is taken captive as we see in verse 8, to vein philosophies, to empty philosophies and empty deceit. In fact, the immature Christian is unable to see through spiritual deceit. Unfortunately, there's a lot of stuff around us that masquerades as biblical truth. And we need to grow to maturity so that we're able to discern that and see that. Usually the things that are masquerading as biblical truth are really just recycled heresies that have really been along for a long time. It turns out. Finally, so we're rooted, we're to be build up, we're to be established in the faith. You see that in verse 7 of Colossians 2. This word established has the idea of making something stable or firming something up or fixing it so it can't be moved like my foot. I just realized that's a perfect example. Don't want my bone to move while healing. It's been established. Clearly, this follows naturally from having a firm foundation. If something is established, it has a firm foundation so it won't move. It's built in a sound sort of way. Spiritual maturity brings about a certain fixidness of the believer. They will not be moved, come what may. Paul eludes to this in 1 Corinthians 15 where he says, be steadfast, all moveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. We also hear of this when we read about the armor in Ephesians chapter 6. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day having done all to stand firm. Martin Luther even used terminology like this when he was asked to recant of the works that he had published there that he felt were based on God's truth and the gospel and he said, here I stand. I am here. I will not be moved. I have established and the Christian needs to be established. Let's bring it to a close here. We are at a walking Christ, the necessity of walking with Christ and the necessity of established faith and finally the necessity of Thanksgiving. Notice how he wraps up these two verses here. Just as you were taught, abounding in Thanksgiving. The life of the maturing believer should be one that is marked with much Thanksgiving. While all of us at times struggle to be thankful, there is no such thing as an ungrateful, un-thankful Christian in general. The matur Christian will be a thankful, grateful Christian because he or she knows that it's God that's doing all this work, all of this establishing work, all of this rooting work within them. You show me a matur or a maturing Christian and I will show you someone who is thankful for the work that God is doing in their life. Since this maturing work is God's from start to finish, we ought to thank him for it from start to finish. He has been so good to us. So let me just give you a couple of applications and then I will close us in prayer. Are you rooted in Christ? Are you being built up as an individual? Is your body here being built up? Are you being established so that the storm, when the storms of temptation and doubt and adversity come to you and they will come to all of us. Are you being established so that you will be unmoved at those times? Are you thankful for the work that God is doing in your life to mature you and to build you up and establish you? Are you playing a part in the maturing of other believers? We play important roles in each other's lives and building each other up and helping each other mature. I hope you are part of that picture. In the wrap it all up, are you moving onward toward maturity? Let me close us in prayer. Our father and our God, we come to you and we have read these verses and we have thought about them for a little bit here and we realize that it is necessary that we walk with Christ. I pray, Lord, that you would give us grace today by day to be walking with the Savior, to be walking in truth, to be walking in wisdom and in love and not as the pagans in the Gentiles do. I pray you would give us grace for our walk. Might we walk with Christ this day and this week. I pray, Lord, that you would root us up, that you would bring us to spiritual maturity. I pray, Lord, by work of your Holy Spirit. It is not something that we can conjure within ourselves. I pray by work of your Holy Spirit that you would mature us. Make us to be the kind of established, rooted Christians that we ought to be. We need your help. We are frail and weak and we need establishment. We need rootedness in you. And finally I pray, O Lord, that you might make us a thankful people, that we might abound even as it says here, that we might abound in thanksgiving for all that you have done for us as you work in our hearts, as you work in our lives. I pray, Lord, that you would be with these dear people even this week, that they might see fruit from these words in their lives and in their families. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.