Christ Preeminent (Part Two): Giving Thanks to God

Transcript

JRNT 24
06/11/2023
Preeminent Christ: (Part Two): Giving Thanks to God
Colossians 1:3-8
Jesse Randolph


Well, I've done my fair share of biblical counseling of married couples over the years and in doing so I have developed quite the knack to determine when things are about to head south. In those meetings we'll have our Bibles open, we'll be searching the Scriptures for whatever God has to say to this married couple, about whatever sin that either one of them is engaged in. And when things start to go off the rails, when things start to go off the tracks, is when one of the spouses, be it the husband or the wife, uses the word “you.” They take their eyes off the Word of God, they take their eyes off the fact that their identity, their chief identity is in Jesus Christ. They take their eyes off the fact that there are two sinners, not one, in marriage and they'll turn to their spouse, the one with whom they have made this lifelong covenant, the one that they have been called by God to honor and cherish, and then they'll use this word “you.”

You do this, you always do that, if you hadn't..., why do you always..., you are..., you could..., I wish you... And it's like a form of verbal finger-pointing, and sometimes it is actually accompanied by actual finger-pointing when that one spouse says to the other, “you.” And then for the spouse that is on the receiving end of that “you,” they are suddenly back on their heels. And then often this whole conversation, this productive, God-honoring, biblical conversation is off the rails. Because of that word “you.” See, that word “you,” this ordinary useful second person form of address in the English language can do that. It can function like this sharp prod, causing its recipients to wither and to shrivel up and to recede.

But that's not the only way the word “you” can be used. No, the word “you” can be used in conversation whether it be in letters, text messages and e-mails to encourage, to build up, to spur on, to bless, to praise, which is exactly what we see happening in our text for this morning. Turn with me in your Bibles if you would to Colossians 1, we're going to pick it up in verse 3 and attempt to work all the way through verse 8. And as we do so I want you to note how often Paul, the human author of this text, uses those words “you” or “your,” and the manner in which he uses those terms. Colossians 1:3-8, God's Word reads, “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant who was a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.”

Now as we kicked off our studies on Sunday mornings in the book of Colossians last week, you will recall that this letter, Colossians, was written in a specific time and in a specific context by a specific person to a specific people. And you recall that the church there in Colossae had been planted by a man named Epaphras. Epaphras had heard the Gospel through the lips of Paul in Ephesus some ten years earlier and after Epaphras heard the Gospel he responded to the Gospel, he put his faith in Jesus Christ and got saved. And after that he went back to his hometown of Colossae, this once great, now has-been sort of town, and he started a church there. And the Lord blessed the ministry of Epaphras there in Colossae. There were many through that ministry that were hearing the Gospel. There were many who were coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ. There were many through Epaphras' ministry who were being rescued from the domain of darkness, as it says in Colossians 1:13, and being forgiven of their sins, it says in Colossians 1:14.

But now as of the time that Paul puts his pen to parchment here in A.D. 60-62 when we think Paul wrote Colossians, there were problems developing in this church. And specifically there were theological problems developing in Colossae as a form of false teaching. What we now know as the Colossian Heresy had begun to infiltrate this still young and impressionable church. The Colossian Heresy as we saw last week was multifaceted, it was multidimensional, and all the dimensions of this heresy sort of blended in with each other. It had aspects of legalism, it had aspects of mysticism, it had aspects of asceticism and Judaistic syncretism, meaning they were still importing old Jewish ways into their faith. And this false form of teaching was now deceiving people and drawing them away from the simplicity and the purity of the Gospel that Epaphras had earlier delivered to them.

And in this section of Colossians that we'll be in this morning, Colossians 1:3-8 (which by the way is a single sentence in the original Greek language), Paul's purpose here is to redirect them away from the deceiving ruse that was the Colossian Heresy. His purpose is to reassure them that they had in fact heard from Epaphras the true Gospel, the authentic apostolic message of the cross. And his purpose was to re-center them on what his entire purpose is in this letter, which is to point them to the preeminence of Christ. And note how he does so over and over again in this letter with that use of that second person term, “you” or “your.”

Now as with any passage of Scripture, our passage this morning does have its immediate context, that being the church there at Colossae. But as is true of all Scripture, today's passage has very important application for God's people today, i.e., you and me. So as we go through this text here this morning, we're going to be going back and forth, to borrow a phrase from John Stott, between two worlds, the Colossian context and our context. And the title of this morning's message is “Giving Thanks to God.” I've given it that title because the entirety of the text that we'll be in today, verses 3-8, flows like a fountain out of those first five words that you see there in verse 3, “We give thanks to God.” Paul here, guided by the Spirit, wrote the words that he wrote to the Colossian believers here with the aim of giving thanks to God for the resolute and steadfast faith that they had. In fact, that's our first major idea for this morning, or if you are a note taker this would be our first point for the morning, “The Colossian Christians Were a Reason for Giving Thanks to God.” They were a reason for giving thanks to God. Look at verse 3, it says, “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now note, right away it says, “We give thanks.” It doesn't say I give thanks. And that fact that it says ‘we’ here and not ‘I’ links back to what Paul said back in verse 1 where he says, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.” As we saw last time the language of verse 1 does not mean that Timothy co-authored Colossians with Paul, but the reference to Timothy in verse 1 does mean that Paul as he wrote to the Colossians was writing on Timothy's behalf as he did so. Hence, the ‘we’ of verse 3, “We give thanks to God.”

Now thankfulness to God, of course, is an essential, it's a distinctive characteristic of the entirety of the Christian life. And as we'll see, in the months ahead as we work through this majestic letter, Paul is going to be touching upon this subject over and over again, this matter of giving thanks to God. In fact, turn with me over to Colossians 1:12, we'll do a little bit of a survey of Paul's thankfulness throughout this letter. Look at Colossians 1:12, he speaks here to the Colossians. As he is praying for the recipients of this letter he is praying that they will be “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us [them] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” Jump down to Colossians 2:7, in Colossians 2:7 Paul here is exhorting the Colossians to be “overflowing with gratitude,” there at the end of the verse. Other translations have that “abounding in thanksgiving.” Or then jump down to Colossians 3 and pick it up in verse 15, and look how brightly the theme of thankfulness comes through here. Look at Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” And then verse 16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” And then verse 17, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” And then finally look at Colossians 4:2 and look at this word of exhortation that Paul delivers here where he says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”

But note here, and this is important, before Paul goes on to exhort the Colossian believers, as we've just seen in that little mini-survey of those passages about how they are to be thankful, back in our text, Colossians 1:3, he is modeling what it meant to be thankful in his own heart where he says, “We give thanks to God.” And Paul's expression of thanks for the Colossian believers here was no mere triviality or formality. He wasn't just tossing out a throwaway phrase here. No, Paul had a consistent track record of regularly giving thanks to God for the work that God was doing in the hearts and lives of believers all over the world who are hearing and had heard the Gospel of grace.

Paul knew that he was a mere vessel, he knew that he was a mere mouthpiece, and that the transformation that was happening as the Gospel went out around the world was on account, not of Paul, but on account of God and His power. He knew that God was the One who was ultimately responsible for the spread and the impact of the Gospel. And that's why many of Paul's letters begin with similar words of thanks as we see here in Colossians. For instance, you could jot down Romans 1:8 where Paul says, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.” Or Philippians 1:3 he says, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” Or 1 Thessalonians 1:2 he says, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers.” And last one, Philemon 4 he says, “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers.” See, good news concerning the work that the Lord was doing in the hearts of believers all over the place filled Paul with joyful gratitude and so he was continually giving thanks, as we see here in Colossians 1:3 when he says, “We give thanks to God.”

And note, that as he continues on in verse 3 Paul adds more to the description of the God to whom he was giving thanks here. He says, “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now back in verse 2 last week we saw Paul referring to God as Father. Look at the end of Colossians 1:2 there, he says, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father.” Now in verse 3 he is referring to God as the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now God is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the same manner in which He is our Father. Right? We know from places like John 1:12 that “He,” meaning God, “gave” us, us in the room here, “the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” that's John 1:12. Well, we became children of God when we trusted in Christ, Jesus never became anything, He never became the Son of God, no, He is eternally the Son of God, He is one in nature with God the way that any true son is of his father. So when Paul here refers to God, verse 3, as being the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is actually affirming the deity of Christ. He is saying that the Father and the Son are of the same nature.

This is one of the many ways in this letter to the Colossians that Jesus will be described, not only as a prophet and a miracle worker and the Messiah and the Savior, but as God. And we see Paul make similar expressions related to Christ's deity, using this similar expression here as we see in Colossians 1:3 in other letters that he wrote. Like in Romans 15:6, he says, “so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Same idea there, they are both God. 2 Corinthians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Same nature, one God, three persons. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and therefore He is rightly here referred to with God being His Father.

And as we continue working on this text and working through verse 3, I want you to note how descriptive the language here is of God the Son. He is called “our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now Jesus, of course, was our Lord's proper name. This is the name by which His mother would have called Him when she addressed Him. This would be the name his brothers referred to Him by when they yelled out at Him. He was Jesus of Nazareth. And then Christ, of course, is His title, His position. It means anointed One, signifying that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-promised and long-anticipated Messiah of Israel.

But note that Paul refers to Him not only as Jesus Christ here, look at the two words that precede that title or that name, He is our Lord. As God, Jesus is not only the ruler of the cosmos, the ruler of all creation, the ruler of kings, the ruler of atoms and molecules and protons and neutrons. He is the Lord in the lives of His people. He is transcendent and above all, but He is also very much immanent and in all. And note, He doesn't allow for partial allegiance. He won't allow a person to sort of put one toe or one limb in the water but keep the rest of their body on the shore. No, Jesus demands the absolute surrender of His subjects to His lordship. He is an unrivaled and gentle Master and we are unworthy and grateful slaves. The Colossians got this, they understood this. They understood that Jesus was not only a Nazarene, that He was not only the Messiah, but that He was the Lord. And because of that, Paul here is giving thanks to God for them.

And it is written here in the present tense when it says, “We give thanks.” It's a present tense verb, meaning Paul was continually, as a regular practice, as a regular action, giving thanks for them to God. He was in a continual state of gratitude for them. And we need to remember, setting the context yet again, where was Paul now as he writes this, as he is expressing these words of gratitude and thanks for the Colossians? He is in prison, he is incarcerated, he is locked up, he is wearing Roman chains, he is facing the reality of his one-day execution. In human terms he had plenty to complain about and plenty for which to think about himself. But is that what he is doing here in this letter? No. He is giving thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he is giving thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the faith of a people he had never met face to face. It's incredible when you really think about it. And it should really cause all of us to reflect on whether and how often we find ourselves giving thanks like this, the way that Paul is modeling thanksgiving for each of us. I mean, he was struggling and suffering, clearly. When we struggle, when we suffer, is our first reaction to say, “God, rescue me”? Or instead is it to say to Him, “Thank You, for being a God who is there and a God who looks after me and a God who has numbered every hair on my head”? Is our reaction when we are struggling and we're suffering to say, “God, why me”? Or instead, is it to say, “Thank You, for providing me with life and breath and movement in the first place”? When we are struggling and we are suffering is our first reaction to say, “God, deliver me”? Or instead is it to say, “Thank You, for surrounding me with examples like these Colossian Christians of a faith that I can look to and rely upon”?

We've seen that these Colossian Christians were a reason to give thanks to God for Paul. Here is our second takeaway, our second point this morning, “They Were a Continual Source of Prayer.” “A Continual Source of Prayer.” Look at the rest of verse 3. Paul says he was “praying always for you.” Now that phrase, “praying always for you,” does not mean that Paul never left his prayer desk. We know from Scripture that Paul was a high capacity individual who was engaged in a lot of different activities, like teaching and writing and traveling. Nor does this phrase, “praying always for you,” necessarily mean that when Paul prayed he prayed only and exclusively for the Colossian Christians. We know he made similar statements about other churches and other gatherings of Christian believers. He prayed for them, too.

Rather, what is being stressed here is Paul's depth of love for and his care for the Colossian Christians. He had a natural affinity for them, a natural love for them, a natural concern for them. And whenever they came to mind, that's the idea here, he would pray for them, he would thank God for them, as he remembered what God had already accomplished in them and what He was continuing to accomplish through them. What an encouragement that would have been, to be a believer there at Colossae, to receive this letter, to hear this letter read to you and to hear that Paul, this apostle who has never even set foot in your town, is praying for you and giving thanks for you in your faithfulness frequently.

We've seen that the Colossian church was for Paul a reason to give thanks to God, we've seen that they were a continual source of prayer for Paul. Here is our third takeaway for this morning, “The Colossian Church,” the believers at Colossae, “had Faith in Christ Jesus,” they had “Faith in Christ Jesus.” Look at the beginning part of verse 4 where he says, “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.” Let's start with those first three words where he says, “Since we heard.” Those words give us one more clue that Paul had actually never even set foot in Colossae. He had never personally seen or witnessed the faith of these Colossian Christians. Rather, he was dependent on the reports of outside sources to gain knowledge of what was happening there in this city.

And who was Paul's outside source of information at what was happening at Colossae? Well, it was none other than the man we've mentioned already a few times, Epaphras. The one who had traveled 1300 miles to Rome from Colossae to give Paul this firsthand report of what was happening there. The one who, by the way, like Paul was a prayer warrior on behalf of these early believers. In fact, turn with me, if you would, over to Colossians 4:12, let's go over to the end of the book, we'll get here in many, many months. But look at Epaphras' mention here in Colossians 4:12. It says, “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bond-slave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” So Epaphras, like Paul, was laboring in prayer for these early believers and Epaphras was also sharing with Paul what was happening among these believers.

And what he shares with them we see there in verse 4, is that they had “faith in Christ Jesus.” And continuing on he is going to mention that they had love for all the saints. And continuing on into verse 5 that they had a hope laid up for them in heaven. Faith, hope and love, what one commentator has called “the triad of Christian graces.” We see Paul mention those three together in various other places in the New Testament. For instance 1 Corinthians 13:13 speaks of faith, hope and love abiding, “but the greatest of these is love.” Or 2 Thessalonians 1:3 says, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.”

So the first way that Paul commends this church in terms of those triad of Christian graces is for their faith. They had faith. Now even in today's upside-down world where so-called (and I use that term intentionally), atheism is on the upswing, and the rise of the so-called nones, not nuns like habits and Catholic nuns but nones like n-o-n-e-s, is being touted in the media. Most people, even in our day and in that context will still give a polite nod to the concept of faith. They'll still talk about and use lingo like “I just try to keep the faith,” or “I just have faith.” Well, having faith without the right object is meaningless because normally what you'll do without a right object attached to that faith is you'll backfill it with faith in yourself and faith in your own abilities and faith in your own actions and faith in your own ways.

Again, faith is only as good as its object. That is so important for us to grasp here this morning, that we are not saved by having faith in faith. Faith has to be attached to the right thing, or in our case and in the world's case, the right person. Well, the people in Colossae got that. They had faith that was more than just nebulous, they had faith in a definite object, the right object and in the right person. They had “faith,” as it says here in verse 4, “in Christ Jesus.” Their faith was anchored in Christ, their faith rested in Christ. They recognized as Romans 5:1 says, that they had been “justified by faith.” But they also recognized as it says in Ephesians 2:8-9 that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” They recognized as it says in 2 Timothy 3:15 that salvation comes not through nebulous faith but through faith in Christ Jesus. And they recognized as it says in Galatians 3:26 that they are “sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” This is how the recipients of this letter to the Colossians entered into the family of God in the first place—by faith. They realized that they were unworthy sinners before a holy God. They realized and learned that Jesus, God's only begotten Son, had died on the cross for their sins and that on the third day He had been raised from the dead in accordance with the Scriptures. And having heard that glorious news they had trusted in Christ to save them. Now on account of that faith they had been rescued, as it says in Colossians 1:13, “from the domain of darkness” so that now, Colossians 1:12, they could be called “saints in Light.”

Now this is going to be one of those moments where we leave Colossae for just a second and come over to Lincoln, Nebraska. Okay? I need to ask you this question, “Is what was true of the Colossians here true of you? Do you have that kind of faith? Note what I am not asking, I'm not asking if you have faith, I'm not asking if you believe. I'm asking, rather, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ. Have you come to the place? Where your conscience, which gnaws at you, which eats at you, which gives you no rest, convicts you of the fact that you are a sinner. Have you come to that place? Where you have recognized that the sins that you have committed, they weren't accidents, they weren't whoopsies, they weren't character flaws, they weren't just the way you are. Rather, they are offenses against a just and a holy God. Have you come to the place where you've recognized that you will never be able to earn your way or work your way to heaven? It won't be the good deeds, it won't be the gold stars, it won't be the “atta boys,” it won't be a sterling, earthly resume that earns you a right standing before God. No, God in His Word says with absolute clarity that the best you can bring are filthy rags before Him.

Have you come to the place where you have recognized that it is time to wave the white flag, to lay down your sword, to stop warring against God and instead to surrender to Him as you turn to Him and give your life to Him? Have you come to recognize that the only way this will ever happen, the way that this can happen, is by trusting in what Jesus Christ did on the cross on your behalf? He allowed His own flesh to be ripped through with that wooden cross and cords and whips. He allowed the bones of His hands and His feet to be pierced through with nails for you. He allowed that splintered cross to rub His skin raw, agonizing, taking the spit and the shame and the cries and the mocks and the taunts of those who were encircling Him. Do you have faith, and not just faith, nebulous faith, faith in nothing or faith in something -- but faith in Christ, faith in that Christ? Are you willing to bank your entire eternal existence, your eternal destination, not on the goodness of your life, but rather on the sufficiency of His death? The Colossians had that type of faith, they had true faith in Christ Jesus. Christ was not only their Savior, He was their Lord, He was their life.

They not only had faith, though, as we're going to see, that faith that they had produced a Christ-honoring love for one another. That's our fourth observation this morning, “The Church at Colossae had Love for One Another.” Look at the rest of verse 4, it speaks of “the love which you have for all the saints.” So he says, “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints.” Their faith was directed toward Christ, their love was directed toward one another, and those two concepts are always linked closely together. And one of those tangible, visible evidences of whether a person has true saving faith is their love for fellow believers. John 13:34-35, the words of our Lord Himself, He says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” 1 Peter 1:22 says, “Fervently love one another from the heart.” 1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren.” Faith is the root of the Christian life and love is the fruit of true faith. And these Colossian believers with eyes of faith, with truly regenerate hearts, were now demonstrating this sacrificial, agape-style love. They were now willing to sacrifice their own interests for the sake of others. They were, as Galatians 5:6 puts it, demonstrating “faith working through love.” They weren't doing it perfectly, just like you and I don't do it perfectly, but they were certainly growing progressively.

Now one last thing about this love that was being demonstrated by these Colossian believers, it says their love was “for all the saints” there in verse 4, not the very least. That means that they had love for all of the other Colossian believers. But that word is not so limited, is it? It says and it can reasonably be interpreted to mean they had love for Christians everywhere. They had love “for all the saints.” Now that puts quite the challenge before us here this morning, doesn't it? Would you say that your love extends to all the saints? Let's start here at Indian Hills. Does your love extend to those who sit on the opposite end of the auditorium as you? Does your love extend to those here who said something hurtful or disrespectful to you all those years ago? Does your love extend to those whose family might have done something hurtful to your family at some point and your history here at the church? Does your love extend to those who were given a ministry position or title that you thought you should have had? Does your love extend to those here who have made decisions for the church that you thought were wrong or disappointed you?

Let's take it outside of Indian Hills for a little bit. Does your love extend to other faithful Bible-teaching churches in this city? Does your love extend to those churches who have matters of primary doctrine down? The Gospel, the trinity, the virgin birth of Christ, the death and burial and resurrection, they have that down but they might be different from us in other matters. Does your love extend across the globe to Christians who love and worship the same God as you but whose worship styles might be a little bit culturally different than you? Paul here in Colossians 1:4 as he is guided by the Holy Spirit set love for all the saints as the target that we are called to hit. Now that doesn't mean that we can't have theological distinctives and theological points of emphases that we hold near and dear as being what we stand for. That's not saying that. But we dare not confuse being distinct in our theology from being disobedient to what God has said in His Word.

All right, the Colossian church had faith in Christ, they had a Christ-honoring love for one another. Now Paul rounds out this triad of Christian graces when he says at the beginning of verse 5, they had “the hope laid up for you in heaven.” Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. That's our fifth observation this morning, “The Church at Colossae Had Eternal Hope.” So the faith that the church at Colossae was walking in, the love that they were demonstrating toward one another, it was rooted in something. It was “because” of something as it says at the beginning here of verse 5, it was “because of,” as it says in the rest of this verse, “the hope laid up for you [them] in heaven.” That hope, by the way, was not some sort of wistful longing or some sort of sentimental expectation. Rather, this is referring to a confident certainty rooted in faith. And that's what we know faith and hope to be, as we look throughout the Scriptures. Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith,” objective truth, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God.” Or Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for,” the expectations, or “the conviction of things not seen.”

And here in Colossians 1:5 we see a number of other details about the hope that the Colossian Christians had come off the page. And these are true of anybody who has trusted in Christ, including in this room. First, the Colossian hope was definite, it was specific. Note, he doesn't say it was a hope, it wasn't some hope, it was “the hope.” It was definable. Second, the hope here is both reserved and it is preserved. That's all emphasized in what it says in verse 5 where it says “the hope is laid up for you in heaven.” The idea there with those words “laid up” is that it is set aside, something that is being preserved and can never be taken away from you.

In fact, turn with me over to 1 Peter if you would, where we'll add some more meat to the bones of what it means to have our hope laid up. Look at 1 Peter 1, this will kind of amplify what Paul is saying. Look at 1 Peter 1 and we'll start in verse 3 where he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” And then look at what that living hope is attached to in verse 4, “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” And then look at what this living hope is rooted in in verse 5, “who are protected by the power of God,” and here are the words, “through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Same concept here of our hope being laid up as what Paul is referring to there in Colossians 1:5.

Here is another thing about our hope, back to Colossians, this hope is not universal, rather it is exclusive, it is for believers. Paul here doesn't say that this hope is laid up for all; it's not laid up for everyone, no. What does it say? It is laid up for you, for you. Muslims don't have this hope. Mormons don't have this hope. Roman Catholics don't have this hope. Atheists and agnostics and apostates don't have this hope. No, it's laid up for you, for the follower of Jesus Christ, for the one who has the faith that Paul spoke of earlier, for the one who is walking on the narrow path, and for the one who is going to endure to the end.

Here is another thought on this idea of hope here, the hope is “in heaven” it says. Literally, in Greek it is plural, the hope is in the heavens. And we know that every follower of Christ has already been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” Ephesians 1:3. We know that “our citizenship is in heaven,” Philippians 3:20. We know that we long for a new city, “a heavenly one,” Hebrews 11:16. The hope that Paul is describing here in Colossians 1:5 is a reference to the totality of blessing for the Christian in the life to come. That includes our future resurrection, our future glorification, our release from sin and suffering, our eternal bliss in glory and the completion of everything Christ secured for us in saving us.

And while our hope does involve each of those glorious truths, our hope is ultimately centered on Christ Himself Who has already entered heaven as our “forerunner” as Hebrews 6 [verse 19-20] says, and Who is, as it says in Titus 2:13, our “blessed hope.” And don't miss this, please don't miss this, because we have this hope, this hope of what is to come and Who this hope is rooted in, namely Christ. That must factor in greatly to how we live today. The heavenly hope which has been laid up for the Colossians, the heavenly hope that is laid up for us, will spur us on naturally to demonstrate our faith in Christ Jesus, to love fervently one another.

In fact, go with me over to 1 John if you would, I want to pick up this idea a little bit further and go a little bit deeper. 1 John 3, and here we're going to see John reminding his audience, similar to Paul here in Colossians 1, of who they are, where they are going, and in turn how that ought to motivate them to live today. Look at 1 John 3, picking it up in verse 2, he says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” So those are objective statements about who they were and what events are still to take place. And now look at verse 3, here's the statement about who they were to be immediately. “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” See, back to Colossians 1, our inheritance as Christians laid up in heaven for us ought to have an effect on us of stimulating us to have even stronger faith, even deeper love for fellow believers here on earth. The objective fact of who we already are ought to produce in us the increasing effect of being all that God wants us to be. The reality of our future glorification should spur on greater daily sanctification. That's what's happening here.

Now tying all these triad of graces together —faith, hope and love— we have the faith that rested in Christ's work in the past, we have the love that is working with the Colossian believers in the present and we have the hope that is anchored in what is to come in the future.

Now we turn to our sixth observation about this church at Colossae this morning, which is that “They Had Heard the Word of Truth,” that's our sixth point. (I'm not going to tell you how many points I have, by the way.) They had heard the word of truth. So after mentioning that they had hope laid up for them in heaven there in verse 5, Paul connects that thought to what he says next here, that hope, “of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you.” Now we saw last week in Acts 19 that Paul spent multiple years in Ephesus and he preached and proclaimed the Gospel to the Gentiles there. And the Gospel spread to such an extent that Luke could say in Acts 19:10, “that all who live in Asia heard the word of the Lord.” Well, Epaphras, as we've seen, was from Colossae and apparently he visited Ephesus during this time when Paul was preaching the Gospel there, he got saved, and then he brings that same Gospel message back to Colossae, his hometown. That's what is being referred to here in Colossians 1:5-6 when he mentions “the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you.”

And we see similar links, by the way, between those words, the word of truth and the gospel, elsewhere in Scripture. They refer to the same thing. Ephesians 1:13 says, “in Him you also after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” James 1:18 says, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth,” that's reference to the Gospel, “so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” And that word “Gospel,” “euangelion,” means good news. It was used back in ancient Greek days to signal military victory, ‘Good news, we've won.’ By the time the Scriptures were breathed out, it refers to the good news of Christ's death and burial and resurrection and His victory over sin and death and Satan.

And the Gospel message most succinctly stated… in fact, you can turn there with me in 1 Corinthians 15. This is good review for all of us as it was for the Colossian church. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. If you want to get to the heart of what the Gospel message is, it is laid out for us by Paul here in 1 Corinthians 15. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:1, he says, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you unless, you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Those facts of the Gospel, while facts, are just that—facts. And to lay claim to them and to benefit from them and to be saved through them, a person must believe. They must believe in the sufficiency and the efficacy of the death of Christ on the cross, which is why it says in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” The Gospel is not then just a true message, it is the true message, it is the word of truth. And that message had done its work in the heart of these Colossian believers, this message they had previously heard it says here in verse 5. Previously heard before the Colossian heresy started to infiltrate them.

Now that was our sixth observation, that they had heard the word of truth. Here is our seventh observation, “The Colossian Church Understood They Were a Part of God's Greater Plans.” You can shorten that however you will. They understood they were a part of God's greater plans. Look at the next part of verse 6, it says, “just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing.” In verse 6 here Paul is reminding the Colossians that they are part of this grand movement of God that is taking place throughout the world. The believers at Colossae were part of a spiritual brotherhood which was growing and expanding, not only in their town, not only in the region of Asian Minor, but much, much further than that.

Paul here says that it had spread into all the world. Now that doesn't mean that the Gospel had reached every soul who had ever lived. If that were the case, the church's work would be done and the Rapture would have already happened by now. No, the use of “all the world” here is intentional, it's an intentional use of hyperbole by Paul. Like he does in Romans 1:8 where he says, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.” What Paul is communicating there is that the Gospel was in his time fanning out and expanding greatly. Having first been offered in the house of Israel during Jesus' day, it had been rejected by Israel and now it was going out far more broadly. Which is why we see in places like the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Or why we see in Romans 1:14 Paul says, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians.” Or why Paul would say in Romans 1:16, a passage many of us know and have memorized, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation,… to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The Gospel, in other words, was crossing over various ethnic and geographic and political boundaries. And Paul here is rejoicing in this letter in verse 6 over the fact that these Colossian believers were part of the worldwide advance and spread of the Gospel.

Now a few more items on this point about this spread and advance of the Gospel. One is that Paul here appears to be anticipating something, and specifically he appears to be anticipating what he'll say later in Colossians 2 about the Colossian heresy. Here is what I mean. J. B. Lightfoot in his commentary, he said this about this passage, he said, “More lurks under these words than appears on the surface. The true Gospel, the Apostle seems to say, proclaims its truth by its universality. The false gospels are the outgrowths of local circumstances, of special idiosyncrasies; the true Gospel is the same everywhere, the false gospels address themselves to limited circles; the true Gospel proclaims itself boldly throughout the world. Heresies are at best ethnic,” meaning local, “truth is essentially catholic,” meaning universal. In other words, even by celebrating the spread of the Gospel universally here in Colossians 1:6, Paul is already preparing the recipients of this letter for what he is going to say in Colossians 2 as he makes a total, frontal assault on the Colossian heresy. He is saying here that the Christian Gospel has credentials, that those other false sources of teaching don't. The Christian Gospel can go out throughout the whole world, those false gospels are by definition local, they can only go so far because they are weak and false.

Here is another point I want to make on this seventh point that we are on. I want us to soak in the import of what Paul is really saying here as he says the Gospel has gone into the whole world. We have to remember that Paul is writing these words some 35 years, that's it, after the death of Christ and he is already saying that the Gospel has gone out into the whole world. It has expanded that greatly. Now remember in Paul's day there are no airplanes, there are no airwaves, there are no printing presses, there is no high speed digital internet. But the Gospel was spreading, spreading in this time by foot, by camel, by horseback, and always at great risk and at great cost, even up to and including one's life. And that's both a word of encouragement to us, but I think a word of rebuke to us, as we think about where we sit today. I mean, think about it, we live in an era in which transportation and communication and the real time spread of information is unparalleled like no other time in history. We can spread information so fast, through a point and a click and a swipe. That's the time that we live in today. Yet there seems to be this inverse relationship between how easy it is for us to share information and how often we actually do so, namely matters of utmost importance, i.e., the one message that can save a sinner's soul, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm not trying to guilt trip everybody this morning, but I'm going to guilt trip everybody this morning. If Paul during this time, the time of Colossians, A.D. 60-62, could say that the Gospel was going out to the whole world, why isn't the Gospel going out as it was in Paul's day even here in Lincoln, Nebraska in this hyper-communicative era in which we live? It ought to at least cause us to reflect and think about where our priorities lie and how often we are opening our mouth or just simply hitting click, share, send.

Well, next in verse 6 Paul refers to the fact that the Gospel is constantly bearing fruit and increasing. So now he is moving on from the universality of the Gospel to its practicality. Just as a tree grows and bears fruit, the Gospel is producing spiritual fruit in the lives of these Colossian believers. They were demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23. They had, as it says in Philippians 1:11, “been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ.” They were, as we're going to see next time in Colossians 1:10, “bearing fruit in every good work.” In other words, the Gospel had an active presence in them. It was invasive and it was impactful. It was bearing fruit and increasing. That fruit-bearing was happening qualitatively as they were growing in Christian maturity. But it was also happening quantitatively as the church there in Colossae was growing, as new people heard the Gospel and were being added to their number. And both gave Paul reason to praise God for what was happening in this church here.

So they had heard the word of truth, they had been reminded that they were part of God's greater purposes, next we're going to see at the end of verse 6 that they had a right understanding of the grace of God. Look at the second half of verse 6. It says, “even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.” That's our next and eighth heading for this morning, “The Christians at Colossae Rightly Understood the Grace of God.” They rightly understood the grace of God. One of the unmistakable characteristics of the Gospel, the Christian Gospel, what sets it apart from all other belief systems and religious messages is that it is rooted exclusively in grace. Not so the Jewish religion with its emphasis on the keeping of the Torah and the Mishna. Not so the Catholic faith with its emphasis on sacrament keeping. Not so Islam which emphasizes pilgrimages and certain prayers to curry favor with Allah. No, the Christian message and the Christian message alone is rooted in grace. And as we saw last week when we previewed the Colossian heresy, the church at Colossae needed to hear that and be reminded of the fact that their faith was rooted in grace because this new heresy was coming onto their shore; a false gospel, a gospel that added works, added doing, added asceticism, added mysticism. This wasn't just a different gospel, this was an entirely new gospel and Paul would say elsewhere in Galatians 1 that a new gospel is no gospel at all. The true Gospel, the one that we have described and I've articulated this morning already, is one rooted in grace alone. The church at Colossae knew this, but again Paul had to remind them because of the false teaching that was encircling them. They had to be reminded that enshrined as a distinctive of the Gospel is that it is all of grace. “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling,” [hymn line]. They needed those reminders.

As we move on we're going to see Paul make another, ninth, point to the church at Colossae when he highlights the fact that “They Are Spiritually Shepherded.” That's our ninth point as we turn to verse 7. Verse 7 says, “just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf.” And with those words Paul takes it back to our good friend, Epaphras. You've heard me mention his name quite a bit already, I won't retread everything I've said about him so far. We'll keep our noses here in verse 7 and see what other information we can glean about him. First, we learn that the Colossians learned the Gospel from Epaphras. Again our text today, verses 3-8, is this single long sentence in Greek. And when we trace it through we see that the “it” there mentioned in verse 7 where it says, “just as you learned it,” is a reference to the Gospel at the end of verse 5, it links back to verse 5. So he is saying here, when he says,”just as you learned it from Epaphras,” he's saying, “just as you learned the Gospel from Epaphras.” As Epaphras got this church off the ground at Colossae, he did what any good church planter would do, he shared the Gospel, he planted and watered those seeds of the Gospel, and he waited for those seeds to take root and shoot up. And they did.

Second thing to observe here is this verb “learned” in verse 7, when he says, “you learned it from Epaphras.” That word comes from the “mathates” family of Greek verbs which means disciple, disciple. And what that tells us is that Epaphras was in the business of teaching and training and making disciples of other believers as we all ought to be. That's the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20. Epaphras' instruction to these believers began with that one-time proclamation of the Gospel. That's what we saw back in verse 6. But then his teaching and his training and his equipping and his discipleship apparently continued on as they grew in their faith, as he taught them how to obey Jesus' various commands. So Epaphras apparently was less like Paul, the traveling evangelist, and more like the local pastor/shepherd who is committed to methodically and persistently teaching the Colossians the Gospel and various matters related to their newfound faith.

Another observation is that Epaphras here is called our “beloved fellow bond-servant.” And by describing him this way Paul is singling him out as a treasured member of his cohort, this man that he had this special relationship with. And they not only had a special relationship that they shared, they also shared chains, because Epaphras we know from Philemon 23 was also in prison right there with Paul in Rome.

And fourth on verse 7 here, Paul refers to Epaphras as he closes that verse, “as a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf.” “On our behalf” is again signaling for us that Epaphras is a representative of Paul, that he was the one who had actually been to Colossae being from Colossae. This is supporting what we've said earlier, that Paul himself had not been to Colossae but he had a representative there, Epaphras, on his behalf. And then, even then, as he served there in Colossae, note who it was Epaphras was serving ultimately. It wasn't Paul ultimately, it was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Though he was in Paul's inner circle, though he was in Paul's cohort, Epaphras' deepest loyalty was to the Lord Jesus Christ, he was a faithful servant of Christ. Think about that. That's how Epaphras' name goes down in history, with his name forever being etched in the pages of Scripture the way that I think each one of us will want our name etched on the tombstone one day, as a faithful servant of Christ.

With that we make the final turn into our final verse, in our final and tenth point for this morning. Look at verse 8 where he says, “and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit,” “he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.” Our tenth point is that “The Christians at Colossae Were Spirit Directed,” they were Spirit directed. Paul here says that he, meaning Epaphras, “informed us,” meaning Paul and Timothy, “of your love in the Spirit.” Not only did Epaphras carry the good news of Christ to Colossae, not only did he teach them in the ways of Christ, and not only did he travel as far as he did to Paul there in prison in Rome, but he also brought Paul this great news that the Colossian believers were manifesting, demonstrating, “love in the Spirit” toward one another.

Believers are in the Spirit and the Spirit is in us. Romans 8:9 says, “you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Believers are to “walk by the Spirit,” Galatians 5:16, “and not [gratify] carry out the desires of the flesh.” Believers are to manifest the “fruit of the Spirit,” Galatians 5:22-23, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” And believers are called to, as it says in Romans 15:30, “love by the Spirit.” The believers at Colossae got it, they loved by the Spirit. We saw back in verse 4 earlier on that they had “love… for all the saints,” and now we see in verse 8 that they had “love in the Spirit.” They had the love of Christ which was being reproduced in them through the Spirit of Christ and shown to other people that were in the body of Christ. That's all wrapped into what it means here to have “love for all the saints.” And it ties everything back full circle to what Paul said earlier in these words of thanksgiving here in our verses for today. He gave thanks to God initially for the Colossians' faith, he gave thanks for their hope and he gave thanks for their love. And now he is again commending them for their love, their “love in the Spirit.”

Now I'm going to remind us one more time as we close that Paul sent the words that we are studying today and that we'll study for many Sundays to come, he sent these words 1300 miles from his jail cell there in Rome all the way back to Colossae. And the words of thanks that were flowing from his pen here came from a report that Epaphras had given him of all that was happening back in the home church. Here is one last question for us as we close. If someone here this morning were to travel from our body 1300 miles away, and by the way I mapped it, New York City is about 1300 miles away from Lincoln, Nebraska. So let's say we send somebody 1300 miles away to New York City to give a report on you, on me, on us, on us as a church, what would they say? And what would be the report that comes back when that person in New York City hears the report from the person here in Lincoln, Nebraska? Would they hear that we are a reason for giving thanks to God? That we are a continual source of prayer? That we have faith in Christ Jesus? That we have love for one another? That we have an eternal hope? That we've heard the word of truth? That we are a part of God's greater plans and purposes? That we've rightly understood the grace of God? That we are spiritually shepherded? That we are Spirit directed? If so, if that would be the report, praise the Lord. If not, and if there are any holes in the armor there, we know what we need to work on with the Spirit's help.

Let's pray. Lord God, thank You so much for Your grace. Thank You for Your mercy to us. Thank You for Your provision of salvation to us through Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your Word and its truth, thank You for its power and effect, thank You that we can look to it and read it, study it, hear it proclaimed and know exactly what You would have us do. God, You are a mighty God, an awesome God, a holy God, but also a gracious and merciful God. And we give You thanks, O God, for Your provision of salvation through Christ. And simply ask that as we go about this day that we would walk in a manner worthy of our calling and that we would bring honor and praise and glory to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in His name we pray, amen.