Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Paul finished his letter to the church at Colosse by sending heartfelt love to specific brothers and sisters in Christ. He recognized those who faithfully served in gospel ministry and had various instructions for others. Be a faithful servant of Christ and bring glory to God.  Colossians 4:7-9  All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord:  8)  Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your estate, and comfort your hearts;  9)  With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here . Ephesians 6:21,22  But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:  22)  Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your ...

Paul is at the point of wrapping up his letter to the believers at Colosse. He has some final instructions for them regarding prayer and his own needs as an apostle and minister of the gospel.  Walk in wisdom & use your time wisely. Colossians 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.  The church Jesus is building is formed to live a holy life of separation from the corrupt culture, usually identified by the designation, the world.  Walking in wisdom means walking by the light and guidance of wisdom from God. Thus, it is God who commands us to come out from among the world and be separate from them (See 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Wisdom is practiced when we obey what God says to us.  Those who are unbelievers, are consistently referred to as being "without" or outside of the local church family (See 1 Corinthians 5:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:12). They are unbelievers who need to hear the gospel of Christ and be converted, before it is to...

We are coming to the close of Paul's letter to the church at Colosse. He includes some final instructions and has a lengthy list of greetings for believers in different places. A command to pray continually.  Colossians 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;  There are several important imperatives given to believers in these texts. First , we encounter an imperative for prayer. We are to continue in prayer, which connects to believers praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  This means praying without distractions, keeping our minds filled with scripture so that our prayers may be shaped and helped by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  All might, power, and life come from God. His creatures are continually dependent upon Him for all these things.  Pray for strength from Jesus Christ the Lord.  Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  We can do all things that God has appo...

Regarding this text, we have seen the reason and motivation for our need to have the Word of God established or confirmed to us.  Now, we need to see the human aspect of this scripture, the servant of Jehovah. Psalm 119:38  Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.  As God intends, there is always a personal, individual application of His word to each believer's heart. We must take God at His word, believing that He has said something that we need to hear and heed. Psalm 27:8  When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.   King David wrote about half of the Psalms, including Psalm 27. We can see clearly an illustration of what we need to know, and what the Psalmist is trying to show us.  God commands us to seek His face many times in the Bible. What I want us to see is David's response to God's command. The king said "Thy face, LORD, will I seek." There is nothing more beautiful than exercisi...

We have learned much from the book of Colossians. In our last few posts, we have dealt with God's role for a Christian wife, a Christian husband and Christian parents raising their children.  This was followed by looking at the Christian slave relationship. Slavery has been illegal in America for about 160 years, therefore we noted that the best way to understand what Paul is teaching us, is in the employee employer relationship.  Thus, we looked at what a Christian employee should be like and in this post we look at the supervisor's role.  Masters were to treat all slaves equally and fairly.  Colossians 4:1  Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.  Slaves in the ancient culture faced a hard life with often deplorable conditions. They had no recourse under Greek or Roman law and could not expect to receive justice or equity.  Justice and equity required that slaves shou...

We now come to the beginning of Israel's worship as prescribed by God.  We may think that this is a strange account but it is very relevant to the church of Jesus Christ, because it is connected with the right worship of God. In the first seven chapters God gave detailed instructions on the sacrifices, burnt offerings, and their application. All the details were understood by Moses, Aaron and the people.  All necessary things needed to approach and worship God were put in place, ready to do as God commanded.  Aaron was the brother of Moses and he had two sons. Aaron's entire family was consecrated for the priesthood by Jehovah. Jehovah sent holy fire to accept their sacrifices.    Leviticus 9:22-24  And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings.  23)  And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and bl...

Psalm 119:38  Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.  We are learning about needing to ask God to establish or confirm His word to us. How does God establish His word in our lives?  One of the main avenues that God does this is through our life experiences. Answered prayer is a great example of seeing God confirm His word to us.  I regret not keeping a prayer journal from the time that I was born again, for it would have contained many records of my prayer requests, and of God's answers. Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks.   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Rejoice evermore.  17)  Pray without ceasing.  18)  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.   God gives us three imperatives in this text.  First, we are to always rejoice. A Christian should be filled with joy because Jesus has rescued us from death, the grave, hell and eternal damnation. He has given us eternal ...

Our study through the book of Colossians began by teaching us two chapters full of doctrinal truth, followed by two chapters of spiritual responsibilities.  We have studied God's will for a Christian wife, a Christian husband and for children in the home. Now we come to the servant master relationship. Historians estimate that as much as 40% of the population in the Roman empire were slaves. That would amount to about 20 million people! The Anti-Slavery International organization estimates that there are about 50 million people enslaved today through forced marriages or forced labor.  What Paul teaches about the slave and master relationship would apply to those who are enslaved today. What about America and other free nations? Most of us will not have to deal with slavery at all. We do not wake up in the morning wondering if people from another tribe will attempt to capture us and sell us into slavery, as happened in Africa.  However, the teaching Paul provides on this s...