Strengthen Your Heart

Colossians 2:1-2

INTRODUCTION

A. The Primary Quality for an Effective Minister: Discussed

People might argue over the primary prerequisite for an effective minister of Jesus Christ. And they might debate about what one quality would make a pastor the true shepherd of the sheep. The following qualities have all been suggested as the one most important ingredient: intelligence, knowledge of the Word of God, theological education, practical experience, leadership ability, boldness, holiness, purity, preaching power, sympathy, or a combination of any or all of these. Now I grant you that all of those qualities are important. They all fit into the overall makeup of an effective minister of God. But none of them stands out as the most basic, essential, necessary ingredient in the life of any minister.

B. The Primary Quality for an Effective Minister: Determined

I think the most basic, the most essential, the most necessary ingredient in the life of any minister is his love for the church. That is the catalyst that will motivate him in every other dimension.

1. Displayed by Jesus

In Ephesians 5:25 it says: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it." It was Christ's love for the church that prompted Him to give Himself for it. All of those other ingredients I just mentioned that come into play when a man gives himself for the church, are predicated on the fact that he loves the church. Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it. He didn't particularly love the institution or the organization or the structure, He loved the people that make up the church. He was willing and able to die for them.

2. Displayed by Paul

Paul loved the church--not an institution, denomination, or organization. It was the people that he loved and gave his life for. There are many scriptures that speak of this:

a. Paul's Manifestation of Love

1) 2 Corinthians 3:2--The Apostle Paul's love for the church is manifested when he says to the Corinthians, "Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts...." They were inscribed on Paul's heart. He cared deeply for them.

2) 2 Corinthians 6:11--Paul says, "O ye Corinthians, our speech to you is candid, our heart is wide open." He loved them, didn't he?

3) 2 Corinthians 12:15--Paul makes a very melancholy statement: "And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." "I'll die for you," he says, "even though the more I love you the less you love me." Paul loved the church so much that in the pursuit of its maturity he gave his life. In fact, he suffered pain throughout his ministry until finally he was executed.

4) Philippians 1:7--Paul's love for the church is seen in many of his Epistles. For example, when he wrote to the Philippians he told them, "...I have you in my heart...."

5) Colossians 1:24-25a--When Paul wrote to the Colossians he said, "...[I] now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the church, of which I am made a minister...." Paul's entire ministry was a love affair with the church--the people, the believing community.

b. Paul's Motivation for LoveThe reason Paul loved the church with such intensity and devotion came from the deep love that he had for the Lord. And if you love the Lord, you love whom the Lord loves. It wasn't Paul's church, it was Christ's church. And because Paul loved Christ so much, he loved what Christ loved, and was willing to give his life for what Christ gave His life for. It was that motivation that made him purify his life, preach with power, act with sympathy, and apply his mind to the things of God. All of those things were simply by- products of his deep-down love for Christ and the church. And let me just say to you, Christian, you will never serve God on the behalf of God's people with any kind of motivation other than an outright and total love for the church. It's absolutely necessary!

In 1 Corinthians 4:11-13 Paul says, "Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted [lit. `punched in the mouth'], and have no certain dwelling place; and labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it; being defamed, we entreat; we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." That's what Paul went through for the church. You say, "Why did he keep it up?" Verse 14 tells us why: "I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you." In other words, "I do these things because you're beloved to me." You see, that's the difference between the professional and the passionate. That's the difference between the one who cranks out his duties and fulfills them on a professional level and the one who has a passion for the church.

Now I believe that more than any other quality, the man of God must have a love for the church. Above anything else in my own life, I pray that God would give me the kind of love for the church that would make me sacrifice my life for its sake. That is the quality that made Paul different. The thing that made him head and shoulders above any man that ever lived since the New Testament era, apart from Jesus Christ, was his tremendous quality of love for the church and the marvelous gifts that were given to him by the Spirit of God.

REVIEW

As we come to chapter 2 of Colossians, it's important to remember that Paul saw the Colossian assembly (and the assemblies located in the sister cities of Hierapolis and Laodicea) under attack by the false doctrine of false teachers. They were under attack from legalizers, philosophizers, and ascetics--inundated with all kinds of heresy. Paul had a tremendous love for these people, even though he had never met them. Epaphras, who founded and pastored this church, went to Rome where Paul was a prisoner for three years. When he told Paul about the heresy that was being taught, it created such anguish in his heart that he sat down and wrote the Epistle to the Colossians.

In Colossians 2:1 Paul says, "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh." "I wish you knew," he says, "how much I ache for you." So, in the initial part of chapter 2, he pours out his love, which winds up being the expression of the deepest desires that he has for the church. Look at what he says in verses 2-7: His desire is "that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have, therefore, received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding with thanksgiving" (vv. 2-7).

Now in those simple verses (vv. 2-7) are five things that Paul desires for the church. They come pouring out of his love for people he's never even seen. But that didn't matter, because his love for the church was not predicated on the people in it, it was predicated on the Christ who died for it. You see? It was not a discriminating love. It was not a love that was isolated to the ones whose personalities he liked or even the ones he knew. He loved the whole church equally, because he loved Christ. And as he pours out his love in verses 2-7, Paul reveals five desires that he has for the church.

Before we look at these five desires that Paul has for the church, we need to back up to verse 1 to get a running start and to look at...

I. PAUL'S AGONY FOR THE CHURCH (v. 1)

"For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh"

The word "conflict" comes from the same Greek word that is translated "striving" in 1:29. It is the Greek word agon from which we get the word agony. It's a word that was especially related to the athletic endeavor of somebody who was agonizing, straining, and striving to win. Paul says, "You don't know the anguish and the pain that I endure for you." This word has ultimate meaning for an athlete, because no one but an athlete understands what it means to experience the pain that is necessary to achieve a goal. I've experienced that type of pain. I can remember playing in a football game for sixty minutes with a separated shoulder. I had such a desire to win that I wouldn't acknowledge my injury to anybody. Instead, I just continued to bite the bullet and endure the pain. Well, that's the kind of pain that Paul was experiencing when he referred to the "great conflict" that he had for the Colossian church.

Paul wasn't alone in the agony he experienced over the Colossian church. Epaphras, the pastor of the church in Colosse who came and reported to Paul, was going through the same thing. In 4:12-13 Paul says, "Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, greeteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he hath a great zeal for you...." He had the same spirit, the same attitude--another man with an aching heart for the spiritual life of the people of God.

Now remember, Paul's emotion is not simple, personal love, or just a concern about some people that he likes a lot. He has this agony over people that he's never even met! Why? Because he loves the church...the church anywhere. God help us to have that kind of love. Instead of bickering, being proud, and rejoicing in the failure of other believers, we ought to have the same agony in our own hearts and souls over those believers who do not fare as well as God would have them. "I wish you could understand what I feel for you" Paul says. He longed that they would grow and mature as any of the congregations he himself had ministered to. In fact, I think this idea of being able to love a church that you don't even know sets a pattern for all those who minister. Paul's passion for the people that were near him didn't diminish, he simply loved all equally.

Out of Paul's love for the Colossian church came five deep desires that he had for them. Let's look at...

II. PAUL'S BURDEN FOR THE CHURCH (vv. 2-7)

The first desire that Paul had for the church was that they be...

A. Strong In Heart (v. 2a)

"That their hearts might be comforted [or `strengthened']..."

Paul says, "Even though you have not seen my face in the flesh, I have a great agony for you. I don't want you to fall into false doctrine. I don't want you to get sucked into error. I want you to be strong in heart."

1. "That their hearts..."

a. The Symbolism of Your Heart and Bowels

When the Bible refers to the heart, what does it mean? In the English language, the heart is the symbol of emotion.

We use expressions like, "My heart cries for you," or "I love you with all my heart." To the Hebrew, however, this was not the case. In Scripture, the Hebrews basically referred to two organs of the body: the bowels and the heart. Let's look at their symbolism:

1) The Bowels

There are many references in the Bible to the bowels. They have been fairly well erased in the later translations, but the pure translation of the Hebrew indicates that that is the word. It is used in the Bible to speak of the womb, the stomach, the intestines, and of several other abdominal organs. In other words, it is a general term for the gut, if you will. So, when a Hebrew said, "I feel it in my bowels," he was really saying, "I feel it in my gut." You say, "What does that mean?" Well, the Hebrews did not know anything about speculative thinking or of interpreting things in abstractions. Everything to them was a concrete, experiential, physical reality. Let me show you some examples of this:

a) Psalm 22:14--Here's a prophetic description of Jesus on the cross. Notice how the psalmist expresses what Jesus feels: "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels." In other words, he's saying, "My whole abdominal area is in upheaval. I feel it in My gut. My stomach is in knots." This is a very experiential concept. It's not abstract at all. A Hebrew would never say, "I sense a certain anxiety," because anxiety is an abstraction. Instead they would say what they felt.

b) Song of Solomon 5:4--The bride is waiting for the bridegroom to come to her and consummate the marriage, and she says, "My beloved put his hand to the latch of the door, and my bowels were moved for him." The term bowels, here, refers to the arousal of sexual desire in the human body. Even feeling in the genital area was expressed by the Hebrews in that terminology. They didn't say, "I began to sense great overwhelming passion." That's an abstraction. The Hebrew defined it in its lowest level of experiential feeling.

c) Lamentations 2:11--The prophet Jeremiah was a patriot. But he wasn't a blind patriot. He loved his country only when his country loved God. Jeremiah saw his country falling apart. So, in response to what he saw happening around him he says, in Lamentations 2:11, "Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled...." In other words, "I feel it in my gut. I have pain in my stomach. It's all in knots." Now you've experienced that, haven't you? Jeremiah is having psychosomatic responses in his body to anxiety in his mind. So, the Hebrews expressed their emotions in terms of the psychosomatic symptoms, not in terms of the abstraction.

Emotions, particularly in the Old Testament, are not communicated as abstractions, they are communicated at the lowest level of experience. So, when the term bowels is used in Scripture, it has reference to emotional responses. To the Hebrew mind, then, the heart is not the seat of emotion, the stomach is...the bowels.

d) 1 John 3:17-- "But whosoever hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" John is simply expressing what would be obvious to a Hebrew. He is saying, "Look, when you see somebody with a need, it ought to cause a gut feeling in you. It ought to stir you up and cause you to feel real anxiety in your stomach."

Now notice that in every one of those passages, the bowels are always responding. They responded to pain in Psalm 22:14, sex in Song of Solomon 5:4. disaster in Lamentations 2:11, and human need in 1 John 3:17. So in the Hebrew mind, the bowels always refer to that which responds--the emotion. You say, "What did the bowels respond to?" In the Hebrew mind, the bowels always responded to the second organ that they discussed:

2) The Heart

Let me show you what the heart is symbolic of in Scripture:

a) Revelation 2:23--In the middle of the verse Jesus says, "...I am He who searcheth the minds and hearts...." This verse is obviously referring to judgment because just prior to this statement, the Lord talks about the fact that He's going to cast this sinful church into great tribulation and kill her children with death if they don't repent. Then He says, "...I am He who searcheth the minds and hearts...." What is the heart, then? From this passage we see that the heart is the place of responsibility.

b) Jeremiah 17:9--"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked...." In other words, it is the seat of responsibility. It is that which God is going to judge. It is that which is righteous or wicked.

c) Ezekiel 36:26--When God redeems Israel, He will take away their stony heart and give them a new heart of flesh. The heart is the seat of responsibility--that which is judged.

d) Revelation 18:7--Here the Apostle John is talking about Babylon the great and the destruction of this final world system in the Tribulation: "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived luxuriously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow." Notice that the phrase "she saith in her heart" is a metaphor for thinking. In other words, she thought in her mind. What, then, does the heart picture? Not the emotions--the mind. And the mind is made up of two things: the intellect and the will. That's what the heart is in biblical terminology.

e) Psalm 14:1--In ancient times, you don't find people referring to the brain. For example, Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God...." It doesn't say, "The fool hath said in his brain," does it? Why? Because the heart was the seat of thought.

The heart, then, represents the pace-setting mind, and the bowels represent the responding emotions. You say, "How did they ever come up with this concept?" Well, it's easy to see why they connected the bowels to the emotions. When they got emotional, they began to have upset stomachs, colitis, and all the other symptoms that we still get today. You say, "But why did they connect the heart and the brain?" Well, they probably noticed their heart throbbing and pulsing when their brain was hard at work. "Real serious thinking," said a Hebrew, "can be felt in the beat of the heart." So, the heart thinks and the bowels respond with emotion.

b. The Secret of Controlling Your Emotions

Now remember, in the mind of a Hebrew and in the revelation of God, emotions never initiate--they always respond. The heart thinks and the emotions respond. That is the divine pattern. When somebody comes to me and says, "I can't control my emotions," I tell them that their problem is not an emotional one, it's a mental one. The emotions are only responders to the initiation of the mind.

The key to controlling your emotions is to fill your mind with divine truth. That's the key. You see, the emotions respond to what the mind perceives as true--even if it isn't true! Have you ever awakened with a jolt after dreaming that you were falling off a forty-story building? Well, you weren't actually falling, but your mind perceived it as true and your emotions responded to it. Do you know what that teaches me about emotions? Don't ever trust them! The only way to control your emotions is to make sure that your mind is filled with divine truth. Emotions are like bad little children--they'll run amuck if you don't control them.

You say, "How can I control my emotions?" You can control them indirectly by controlling your mind. Look at 2 Corinthians 6:11. Paul says, "O ye Corinthians, our speech to you is candid, our heart is wide open." In other words, "Now listen, Corinthians. My speech to you is straightforward and candid. I'm not pulling any punches. And my mind is wide open. I have all kinds of truth to tell you." Then in verse 12 he says, "On our part there is no constraint, but there is constraint in your affections." The literal Greek says, "You are tightened in your bowels." In other words, Paul says, "I would certainly like to impart truth from my mind to your mind, but you are all tightened up emotionally." The Corinthians had put up an emotional barrier against Paul in such a way that they couldn't receive truth from him. When emotions get ahead of the mind, you're going to have a lot of problems. The Corinthians couldn't even receive the truth from Paul because their emotions were in the way.

If a person comes to Grace church who has something personal against me, he won't learn anything, will he? Why? Because he's put his emotions in front of the truth. Once the emotions stop being the responders, they start running the show. Well, the Corinthians were putting their emotions first, and wouldn't accept the truths Paul had for them. They were so emotionally upset with him, that they couldn't perceive truth. When people start putting emotions first, they really get into problems. Emotions should always respond to the truth.

c. The Success of Guarding Your Thoughts

The key to behavior, and the key to the control of emotion is the heart...the mind. We need to plant the truth of God in our minds, so that it will control our emotional responses. For example:

1) Proverbs 4:23--"Keep [or `guard'] thy heart [or `mind'] with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." If you want to control life, guard your mind and don't let anybody short-circuit it.

2) Proverbs 22:5--"Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he that doth keep [or `guard'] his soul shall be far from them." The same basic Hebrew terminology is used here as in the guarding of the mind.

3) Proverbs 23:19--"Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way." Guide your heart--guard it and guide it--that it might hear and perceive the truth. Then your emotions will be able to respond to the truth.

4) Deuteronomy 4:9--"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart...." Don't forget the truth. Guard your heart.

5) Psalm 139:23-24--"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Guard and guide the heart--the mind.

6) Matthew 12:35--Jesus said, "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things...." All the goodness will come out of the mind, because the mind guides the pattern of behavior.

7) Matthew 15:19--"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." So, not only do all good things come out of the thinking process, all bad things come out of the thinking process as well. So the Bible tells us to guard our thinking process.

Now let's go back to Colossians 2. Starting in verse 1 Paul says, "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted [or `strengthened']..." (vv. 1-2a). Let's look now at the phrase...

2. "...might be comforted [strengthened]..."

a. The Significance of a Strong Mind

Paul says, "The number one thing I want out of you is to be strong in heart." You say, "My Bible has the word comforted." Well, in the Greek the word is parakaleo. This word, which is used repeatedly in the New Testament, always contains the idea of strengthening. In Ephesians 6:22 it says, "...that He might comfort [or `strengthen'] your hearts." Second Thessalonians 2:17 says, "Comfort [or `strengthen'] your hearts...." The word parakaleo always carries with it the idea of comfort, courage, and strength. In fact, if we look backwards into its etymology, we can find places where parakaleo specifically means "strength." To have a strong heart, then, is to have a firm mind--a mind that has courage, conviction, and principle.

So Paul is saying, "I don't want you people to fall prey to the false teaching of the errorists. I don't want you to fall to these people who are teaching you lies. I want you to be strong in your mind. I want you to hold the truth." You say, "But how do you get a strong mind?" Let me show you:

b. The Source of a Strong Mind

Ephesians 3:16 tells us the source of a strong mind. Paul prays to the Father and asks that He would grant us "according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man." Who is the strengthener of the heart? The Holy Spirit. We live in a world filled with people who don't have strong convictions. And not only do people not know the truth, they don't want to learn it, pursue it, or mine it. So Paul says to the Colossians, "I want you to be strong, courageous, comforted, encouraged, and strengthened." All of that is contained in the word parakaleo. And the Holy Spirit is the one who can do it.

c. The Steps to a Strong Mind

You say, "How does one get a strong mind, John?" Well, I believe as you yield to the power and control of the Spirit of God on a day-to-day, moment-by-moment basis, the Spirit of God will strengthen your inner man. The Spirit of God, by the revelation of God, will feed and strengthen your mind.

1) The Illustration

Paul is a perfect illustration of someone who began to be strengthened immediately after he was converted. In Acts 9:22, it says that "Saul increased the more in strength." He became stronger and stronger--not because he was lifting weights and eating a lot of food, it was because he was being equipped by the Spirit of God. In fact, he became so strong in his heart, so solid in his confidence, so unflinching in his ministry, that in Acts 20:22-24a he said, "And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, except that the Holy Spirit witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But none of these things move me...." Paul was strong in his heart, wasn't he? He had convictions about God and His will for his life. He had convictions about the acts of obedience God was asking of him, and he was strong enough to carry them out.

Paul had tremendous strength and courage. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 Paul said, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." How was Paul able to do this? Because he was strong. You say, "How did he get strong?" As Paul walked in the Spirit, the Spirit poured His divine strength into him.

2) The Identification

The word parakaleo means "to strengthen." It is the very same word that is used in John 14, 15, and 16 as the name of the Holy Spirit. In these chapters, the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete, but those particular verses could also be translated the following way according to the meaning of the word parakletos (the noun form of parakaleo): John 14:16 could be translated, "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another [Strengthener], that He may abide with you forever." John 14:26 could read, "But the [Strengthener], who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things...." John 15:26 could be translated, "But when the [Strengthener] is come, whom I send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth...." And John 16:7 could read, "...if I go not away, the [Strengthener] will not come unto you...."

So, if you're going to be strong in heart, you have to be strengthened by the Strengthener--the Holy Spirit. A weak Christian is one who walks in the flesh all the time, but a strong Christian is one who walks in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is like spiritual weight lifting. It will cause you to become stronger in your mind, in your convictions, and in the things you know and believe about God.

3) The Instruments

I want to go a step further. Although the Holy Spirit is the Strengthener, He uses human instruments. He uses people like me to strengthen you and people like you to strengthen each other. Acts 18:23 says of Paul, "And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples." Paul went to those places, poured divine truth into their minds, and strengthened them. God uses human instruments empowered by His Spirit to strengthen.

People don't get strong by exercising their emotions. When Paul said that he wanted the Colossians' hearts to be strengthened, he wasn't referring to their emotions. What he was saying was, "I want you to have the input of the Spirit of God and the truth of God in your mind." The Holy Spirit is the Strengthener, and He uses human instruments such as Paul, you, and me. But remember, we ourselves must be strong to be able to pass along the truth of God.

Truth: The Driving Force

Have you ever seen one of those little toys powered by a flywheel? You know the ones I mean. You give it a little push and it zooms across the floor. Well, emotions are like a flywheel, and truth is like the hand that gives the push. Once truth gives the initial impetus and drive, then the emotions can take over. You can't do it the other way around, however. You can't just sit there and say, "Go, little toy." You have to push it first. In the same way, your emotions can only respond. But when the truth of God is poured into your mind, and you understand and act on it, that truth will then spin the flywheel of your emotions.

Paul's prayer for all of us is that we have strong hearts. Why? Because strong hearts will prevent us from being sucked into false doctrine, emotionalism, and disobedience. Paul gives us the results of a strong heart in Ephesians 3:17-21. This is what he prayed: "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Those are tremendous results from a strong heart, aren't they?

So Paul says to the Colossians, "Because I love you and care about you, the first thing I want to see in your life is that you be strong in heart." In our next lesson, we'll see four more desires that he has for the church.

Focusing on the Facts

1. What are some of the qualities that people feel are essential for a minister to be effective? What is the primary quality for an effective minister? Why? 

2. According to Ephesians 5:25, what motivated Christ to die for the church? Did Paul have this same perspective? Support your answer. 

3. Why did Paul love the church with such intensity and devotion? 

4. Read 1 Corinthians 4:11-14. Why did Paul endure such things for the sake of the church? 

5. What prompted Paul to write the Epistle of Colossians? 

6. How would you define the "great conflict" (Col. 2:1) that Paul had for the Colossians? 

7. Why would the concern that Paul had for the Colossians be considered unbiased? 

8. According to Colossians 2:2, the first desire expressed by Paul for the Colossian church is that they be ______ __ _____. 

9. In Scripture, the Hebrews basically referred symbolically to what two organs of the body? 

10. In Hebrew thought, what does the use of the term bowels usually refer to? Why? 

11.The following verses use the term bowels: Psalm 22:14; Song of Solomon 5:4; Lamentations 2:11; 1 John 3:17. Match these verses with one of the following emotional responses: pain, human need, sex, disaster. 

12. What is the heart symbolic of in the English language? What is it symbolic of in Scripture? Why? 

13. In biblical terms, the _____ (heart/bowels) respond(s) to the _____ (heart/bowels). 

14. Why did the Jews make a connection between the bowels and emotion? Between the heart and mind? 

15. What is the key to controlling one's emotions? Why? 

16. What is the major problem that is caused when emotions control the mind? 

17. What is meant by guarding one's mind? Why is this so important? 

18. The word "comforted" (Gk. parakaleo) in Colossians 2:2 can also be translated ____________. 

19. Why would Paul be especially concerned about the strength of the Colossians' minds? 

20. According to Ephesians 3:16, who is the source of a strong mind? 

21. What are the practical steps to a strong mind? 

22. A toy powered by a flywheel is used to illustrate the relationship between truth and emotion. The flywheel represents _______, and the hand that gives the push represents _____. 

23. What are the results of having a strong mind/heart? 

Pondering the Principles

1. Paul loved the church with an intensity and devotion that came out of the deep love he had for the Lord. Paul loved those whom the Lord was willing to lay down His life for. Do you have problems loving those in the body of Christ? Read 1 John 4:7-5:3. Write down all the truths relating to love that you can find. What does John conclude if you don't love your brother? What is the greatest example of love? How should this example of love affect us? Where does our love for God originate? Where does our love for one another originate? According to 1 John 5:2, our obedience to God is directly connected to our love for Him, which is directly connected to our love for one another. Therefore, if you have a problem loving other Christians, your real problem is your relationship with God. Spend a moment evaluating your love for God by evaluating your commitment to obedience and your commitment to love others.

2. Emotions and behavior are controlled by what fills the mind. What fills your mind, the principles of the Word or of the world? What are some practical ways that you can guard your mind "with all diligence" (Prov. 4:23)? Read and meditate on the following verses: "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word....Thy word have I hidden in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Ps. 119:9, 11); "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Phil. 4:8).