Living By Faith, In Love, With Hope

Transcript

GRM 881
1/4/2004
Living by Faith, in Love, with Hope
Colossians 1:3-8
Gil Rugh

There’s an article in the paper this weekend that some of you probably read on spirituality. It was on Finding Spirituality, that was the title of the article. I can’t see you all out there, so I won’t ask you to raise your hand, but it was in the Saturday paper, Finding Spirituality: Journey Is as Individual as People and Leads to the Heart. That doesn’t help a lot. Let me read you some of the article, and again I won’t use the names in the article, and I won’t be reading consecutively, necessarily.

Spiritual people are whole, they are at peace, they know the meaning and purpose of their lives. But what is spirituality? How do you find it? How do you know you have found it? These days pick up any self-help book or step into any church and you will encounter the philosophy that you must be spiritual in order to be complete. What does that mean? Well one person said it does not mean that you are religious, but it could. It doesn’t have to mean finding God in your life, but it could. That’s really very helpful. Spirituality is as individual as people. Defining it or describing it often escapes words, but you recognize it when you experience it. There’s the key to what the article is about. You recognize it when you experience it. Sum total of this article is spirituality is a feeling, it’s an emotion, it’s something that comes on you at times. One person at one of Lincoln’s churches says it’s a filling of the eyes. You’re not crying but you are filled with an indescribable emotion. It is touchstones that you can resonate with—a breathtaking sunset, a sonnet, a song, a stone, a leaf. Then this person says for me my spirituality is all about connecting with myself. You realize we can talk about spirituality has nothing to do necessarily with God, it has to do with me, connecting with myself. You know Eastern mysticism has infiltrated throughout our society and thinking. Just what does it mean to connect with yourself? Stop and pause a moment, let’s all connect with ourselves.

All right, we’ll move on. A person who is spiritual is unconditional in her love for herself and has an increased sense of belonging to all of life. Okay, so now it means having an unconditional love for myself and an increased sense of belonging to all of life. Now just what is an increased sense of belonging to all of life? Again, we’re striving and struggling for some kind of emotion, some kind of feeling that makes me feel connected, makes me feel like I belong. That person says an intensely spiritual moment came at a church service during an excerpt of Handel’s Messiah. I said well, maybe we’re getting someplace, great truths sung in Handel’s Messiah. I closed my eyes, I was vibrating with the music, I know it was a really deep form of connecting. So, you’re listening to this wonderful piece of music, has a tremendous message, and I knew I was connecting with myself. It was a deep form of connecting. You see it is…what does that mean? It means nothing.

Listen to your heart, discover what makes you feel whole, what makes that emptiness go away. That is your spiritual center. When all is said and done what is it? Well, we don’t know, but whatever gives you the feelings that you like, that’s it. Then the article tells you try to stay in that moment when it happens and expand it. But our emotions come and go, our feelings come and go. What would you do when you’re done reading this? I thought, what would I do? Well, think of a piece of music you like to listen to and turn it on. Think of a movie you might have on a video that moves you at certain points and watch it. When you get to the point where you are moved, rerun it again and again. You know, you don’t want to leave that point of connecting with yourself. Really, you just try to have the feelings that you like to have. What is lacking in this article is any reference at all to Jesus Christ. A passing reference, one of those quoted was a Roman Catholic sister, was a reference to God. But basically, it’s trying to have the feelings that will move you.

I want to direct your attention to Colossians chapter 1. As often is the case the Apostle Paul, after a brief introduction which occurs in the first two verses, jumps right into the letter by starting out by saying, “We give thanks to God.” If you’d talk about what characterized the Apostle Paul’s life, you’d say he was a man that was filled continually with gratitude toward God for what God had done, not only in his life, but in the lives of others. You remember the setting of the writing of the book of Colossians. The Apostle Paul has been a prisoner of Rome for about three years by this time, the time of the writing of this book. His imprisonment will go on for at least another couple of years. But as you read the letter to the Colossians you get no sense of discouragement, no sense of despair, no sense of frustration, or wanting to give up. Note in it all, there is that sense characterized by the opening words, “We give thanks to God.” You find if you work through the letter to the Colossians on a number of occasions the Apostle Paul is going to remind the Colossians to be thankful, to have gratitude. Because Paul wasn’t mired down in the particular circumstances or situation in which he found himself. That was where God placed him, where God had him at this time of his life, but it was not the preoccupation of his life. Lord, you have to give me freedom; Lord, I’ve languished as a prisoner for three years. No, you don’t get that flavor, in fact if you’re not reminded you don’t know that this is a prison letter written by a man who is spending a significant portion of his life as a prisoner and he wants to start out the letter after giving the preliminary greetings by saying “We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” The thing that helped the Apostle Paul and kept his focus was God was at the center of his attention and the people of God occupied his attention.

Remember the two great commandments, you love God, and you love others. The Apostle Paul manifests that here. Everything is shaped by the fact that he serves the sovereign God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is doing a mighty and powerful work in the lives of many people today as He brings them to salvation and works His ongoing work of transformation in the life of those that have come to Christ. The Apostle Paul is occupied with them. You know when we get most discouraged is when we get absorbed with ourselves, when I wonder why God is not doing more for me, why God is not acting now in my life, why God has allowed this to happen to me. What am I going to do in this situation? Here the Apostle Paul writes as a prisoner and said, ‘We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” His thanks is not directed toward the Colossians. He is ever mindful that his God is at work, not just in the world generally, but his God is at work in the lives of individual people. I give thanks to God. I come before His throne of grace and pour out my heart. You know what much of my prayer is, it’s an expression of gratitude and thanks to God for the wonder of His work in your life.

God here is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul brings in the Son of God here, he’s going to develop, as chapter 1 goes on, the mighty work of redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ. Here he expresses the theology of the triune God by talking about God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are reminded that it was the Son of God who came to this earth, conceived of a virgin, born into the human race so that He could provide redemption through His suffering and death. Down further in the chapter, verse 15, it says concerning Christ, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” He is the creator of everything. The firstborn, not that He was the first of creation, but He is the firstborn in that He brings all things into existence. “For by Him all things were created.” Verse 19, “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness,” all the fullness of deity, “to dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Verse 21, “though you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death.” That’s what He’s talking about when He says we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will elaborate on the wonder of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as this letter develops.

In chapter 2 of Colossians verse 9 he says, “For in Him, Christ, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.” That baby born in Bethlehem, that man who walked this earth, was crucified on the cross, was Himself God in the flesh. In verse 10 of chapter 2, “And in Him you have been made complete.” Jesus Christ is the manifestation of God the Father. They weren’t distant, fuzzy theological truths to be learned and then packed away. This was truth to be lived for Paul. I come before the throne of the living God to give thanks. He’s the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is our redeemer, our savior, the one who has brought us before the throne of His Father.

I give thanks to Him, praying always for you. Every time that Paul prayed a significant part of his prayer life was thanks. When he prayed for the Colossians, you know what he did? He thanked God for them. The Apostle Paul was a busy man. Even when he was a prisoner, he was busy. While he was a prisoner of Rome, an imprisonment that probably lasted some five years, he wasn’t sitting moping, just parked, waiting until he could get on to do ministry. You know what Paul was doing? He was ministering. You know what he was doing? He was writing letters to encourage, to nurture, to build-up the church. You know what? We still read and study these letters, letters like Colossians. Little did Paul know that some of the greatest impact of his life and ministry would take place while he was a Roman prisoner. In over 2000 years of church history, we have read what we call the Prison Epistles of Paul, learned and grew as the Spirit of God used the Apostle to write the Word of God. He didn’t say what am I doing here in prison? Part of my time is spent praying and when I pray for you Colossians whom I have never met, he had never been to Colossae. Evidently Epaphras, one of Paul’s fellow-ministers mentioned down in verse 7, Paul says they learned the gospel from Epaphras. Remember Paul spent an extended ministry in the city of Ephesus. Evidently while he was in Ephesus, he had fellow workers who traveled into surrounding cities and towns and proclaimed the gospel. Epaphras was from Colossae, he carried the gospel back to his hometown. They were saved. Paul had never been to Colossae, never had met most of these Colossians. But you know what? He was thrilled to hear of God’s work in their lives. That was a personal thing for Paul. His God, His Savior had done a mighty work in the lives of the Colossians and that filled Paul’s heart with gratitude, that filled him with thanks for these precious people.

Now he says, “I give thanks for you.” He diverts from his prayer to talk about why he was so thankful, what he was thankful about. When you get down to verse 9, he’ll say “For this reason also since the day I heard of it we have not ceased to pray for you and ask.” You get the content of his prayer when you get down, but when he talks about his thanks you know his heart is filled and he wants to tell them the things that he can be thankful for--the precious and powerful work of God in the lives of the Colossians. You know I was thinking, if I were going to sit down and make a list of all the things to be thankful for, think of how that list would grow. Just think of the people here that you know and observe and hear of in the ministry. You say well I would be thankful to God for this, pretty soon that would remind you of someone else who has been involved in their life and your life. Your thanks would spread and then something else then has happened and you think you could fill pages of listing the things to be thankful for in God’s work in our life.

Here are some brief things, “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.” You may have underlined in your Bible from previous studies that triad—faith, love and hope. We’re probably most familiar with it from the love chapter, I Corinthians 13, “where now abide these three, faith, hope and charity,” as King James said it. The word love—faith, hope and love. Here several times in the New Testament the Apostle Paul brings these three things together in several of his letters. Here he mentions their faith, their love and their hope. “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.” He’d been told of it by Epaphras down in verse 7. Verse 8 says “he informed us of your love in the Spirit.” So Epaphras had brought the news of the mighty work of God, and even though it wasn’t Paul who brought the gospel to the Colossians, Paul was just as thrilled as if they were his converts. They become part of his life, part of his prayer time, part of his ministry. Here he is writing to them to encourage them, to strengthen them. “I’ve heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Nothing more thrilling. Is there anything as thrilling to your heart as hearing that someone has come to trust in Jesus Christ? When someone tells you of someone, perhaps you’ve never met them, maybe they tell you of a relative or someone they’ve corresponded with that lives in another part of the country; they said I just heard they trusted Christ. Almost becomes a personal thing for you, doesn’t it? What a thrilling thing. Your God and your Savior has worked in another life to bring forgiveness, to bring cleansing, to make them new. Some day you’ll see them in the realms of glory. Of course, it’s personal, it’s wonderful.

Paul says, “since I heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.” This is the beginning. Apart from faith in Christ there is no salvation. Nothing else comes, the love we’re going to talk about, the hope we’re going to talk about is all related to that relationship to Christ alone. Look at Romans chapter 3 verse 21. Paul, one who had tried for so much of his life to be righteous and acceptable to God by doing his best, by keeping the Ten Commandments, by obeying the Law. Then in verse 21 he says, “But apart from the Law the righteousness has been manifested,” because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight. You can’t be saved by your works. We’re talking in verse 22 about the “righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But being justified is a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” You see there is no difference, we are all sinners, Jews and Gentiles alike. The salvation that God has provided is for all, Jew and Gentile alike. It is not by good works, it’s not by keeping the Ten Commandments, it’s not by joining church or being baptized. It is the righteousness of God by faith, verse 22. “The righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus for all those who believe.” You’ll note the emphasis here. It’s the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus. The work faith and the word believe are basically the same word. It’s for all who have faith, faith in Christ Jesus. It’s not just faith. Oh, I have my faith you have your faith. Well, that’s fine, we’re back to the article I read at the beginning. It’s just empty feelings. We’re talking about believing the truth concerning Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, He was raised from the dead, by believing in Him we have life. Paul had heard that the Colossians not only heard that message, but they also believed it. We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and my heart overflowed with thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because you had believed in His Son for salvation.

Come back to Colossians 1. Paul says, “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints.” You know faith is not something static, it is not something that you have at a time and then it’s over. A person doesn’t believe in Christ, now it’s done. A person believes in Christ, and he is born into the family of God. He is cleansed from his sin, and he is credited with God’s righteousness, the righteousness of God, which is by faith, not by works. We now live by faith. I began believing in Jesus Christ at a point in time, I have never stopped. So, we have that initial saving faith but now our faith goes on. When Paul hears of the faith they have in Jesus Christ, he’s not hearing that at one time in the past they believed in Christ. He has heard about the fact they have believed in Christ and now live a life of faith. The emphasis is when it talks about believing in Christ in this passage, that’s now the sphere and realm in which they are dwelling, that faith in Christ Jesus. Now they have love for all the saints, love for all the saints. Demonstrates the reality of their faith. Those who have faith in Christ are living a life, trusting in Him, demonstrated and manifested by the love of God produced in their lives. It’s a love for other believers, a love for the saints. We have sad, grievous things that go on. We see Roman Catholicism trying to make people saints, going to canonize this person, that person. You understand Paul writes about the love the Colossians have for the saints. He writes to the saints.

Look at verse 2, “Paul and apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints at Colossae.” People walking around in physical bodies who have faith in Christ and love for other believers. We don’t even understand what a saint is. A saint is one set apart by God for Himself. Basic word translated holy in the Bible, sanctified, is a saint. A saint is one who has come to believe in Jesus Christ by the grace of God, who has been set apart from sin by God for Himself, one of God’s, one who belongs to God, one of God’s holy ones, sanctified ones. “I heard of your love for all the saints.” Now that doesn’t mean that believers don’t love the lost. We do. Our God loved the world. We are to love our enemies, do good to those who persecute us. But there is also that special love that God produced in our hearts for fellow believers. That’s what Paul is talking about here. Your love for all the saints. Isn’t that a distinction? People not saved, they don’t want to spend time with Christians, they don’t want to spend time with God’s people, they’re not interested in the things of God. A person who has been redeemed by God’s grace has that supernatural love for God’s people, wants to be with God’s people. Fellowship like this is not a burden to them, it’s the desire of their hearts to do good to fellow believers, to give their lives for them, is what he is talking about.

Look back in John chapter 13, John 13:34, “A new commandment I give 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.” Something supernatural took place in the city of Colossae. Epaphras came and preached the gospel, and they believed in it. You know what? Now they love other believers, they were involved in helping them, in serving them, in doing what is necessary for their good. What a transformation had been brought about in their lives. I never believe that a person I meet, and I talk and maybe share the gospel with, and they tell me they’re a Christian, yes, I’m saved. They can tell me the date they were saved. I ask where do you go to church? What group of believers do you fellowship with? Oh, I don’t, I don’t need that. I know in my heart I’m not dealing with a believer. “By this all men will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another,” and you don’t even want to be with believers, let along pour your life into them and give your life for them. What audacity that you would claim to belong to the living God when the evidence of belonging to the living God is the self-sacrificing love that you have for God’s people.

I want to look at I John chapter 2, look at verse 9. “The one who says he is in the light,” and he began in this epistle by saying God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. When Jesus came into the world, He was the light of the world. He said to His disciples, “you are the light of the world.” The person who has come into a relationship with the living God, into the life of God. He says he is in the light, “but he hates his brother, he is in the darkness.” Now note this, until now. He never left the darkness. He made a profession to believe in Christ, he made a profession to belong to God. He has never left the darkness, he’s in the darkness until now. Why? He hates his brother. When God changes a life that is not just mental assent to a theological truth, that is believing and relying upon the truth of the gospel in such a way that the Spirit of God transforms and changes your life. Many people walk around and say I believe in Jesus Christ. That’s why you see polls and they see this huge percentage of people in our country who claim to believe in Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean they are saved. Here’s one of the tests, one of the evidences. The one who loves his brother abides in the light, verse 11, “the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and he doesn’t even know he is in the darkness. He’s a blind person not able to see, not even able to know.”

Look in chapter 3 of I John, verse 10, “by this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” Verse 13, “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren.” We’re not amazed that the world has animosity toward us, it’s the new focus of our life and the new love that God has produced in us that marks us off as His children. We love the brethren. “He who does not love abides in death,” that’s where he lives, where he dwells. “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Verse 18, “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” The love we’re talking about is not just an expression of our lips, it’s just not a feeling in our hearts. It is the action of our lives, it is what we do, it’s the way we live. It’s not being saved by good works, but it is as a result of being saved, now living for others. The example being Christ. He laid down His life for us. Doesn’t say that God just had deep feelings for us in His heart, that Christ was moved with emotion for us. If that’s all there was, we would still be lost. He gave His life for us, so we are to give our lives for the brethren. That’s what we’re talking about. Not getting together because we feel like it, not doing something for other believers because it’s convenient. Because that is our life. We give our lives for others, for the good of fellow believers.

Jump over to chapter 4 verse 7, “Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Read these verses and see what we need is love. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. Well, you know we’re back to the emotions and the feelings. We ought to just have hug-ins and express our love. If we could only love more. The problem is we have to understand what God’s talking about with love. Look at verse 9. “By this the love of God was manifested to us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” You see this is the manifestation, this is the great demonstration of the love of God, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, as Romans 5:8 puts it. What does God do, how do I know God loves me? He had His Son die for me. For God so loved the world that He wept when He thought about it. God so loved the world that He was moved deeply in His emotions about the world. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” That’s the demonstration of God’s love. “So that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.”

Verse 10, “In this is love, not that we loved god but that He loved us.” We’re not the initiators in this relationship, God is. “He sent His Son to be the propitiation,” the satisfaction to pay the penalty “for our sins.” “Beloved if God so loved us,” how did He love us? By giving the best that He had, His only Son. So, “we also to love one another.” We ought to love as God loved. That means doing what is necessary for the good of the one loved. “No one has seen God at any time, if we love one another God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit.” Reminder, Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the Spirit is what? Love. That’s an evidence of the work of the Spirit who has been given to us in our lives.

Verse 16, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in Him. By this love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment,” and on he goes. Verse 19, “We love because He first loved us.” Verse 21, “This commandment we have from Him that the one who loves God should love his brother also,” and on it goes. For the reality what God produces in a life; we have people who claim to belong to the living God, have been saved by Him and their marriage is coming apart. Two people who supposedly have been redeemed by the mighty power of God and the great evidence of God’s work in their life is we love the brethren, and they can’t get along with one another. I say wait a minute, there is something wrong. We love the brethren; you’re married to one of the brethren. Yes, but you don’t know how hard it is to live with them. No, but you’re here talking to me, you evidently haven’t loved them as far as the Word says because it says give your life for them. Well, you don’t expect me to do that. Why not? God does. We love one another. What does it mean in our relationships here and our dealings with one another. How can I serve, what can I do? Remember Jesus Christ came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. That’s what we’re talking about when we talk about the love. Here Paul hears about the Colossians, and it’s demonstrated, it’s a place of love. Epaphras comes back and says here are people who live for themselves, who serve themselves, sin; and now they’re giving themselves, whatever they can do for the good of fellow believers. Paul says my heart is overflowing with thanks to God for what has happened in your life.

Come back to Colossians chapter 1. Some of the characteristics of love are enumerated in what we call the love chapter, I Corinthians 13. We won’t go there; you can go there and be reminded. In Colossians chapter 1 he is thankful for their faith in Christ, for their love for fellow believers, and in verse 5, “Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. The hope that they have that demonstrates, and that moves them in their faith and in their love. They keep a proper perspective. You know a life of faith in Christ is a life fixed on a hope, the hope laid up for you in heaven. The hope is synonymous for what is hoped for. Their hope is what God has for them in heaven. Remember Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 verse 20, “don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” That’s what Paul is talking about here, what has unfolded—the hope laid up for you in heaven.

Turn over to Peter’s letter, toward the back, almost back to where we were with the epistles of John in the back of your Bible, just a little before those epistles you’ll get to I Peter chapter 1, I Peter chapter 1 verse 3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according,” now note the connection here, the similarity. Peter writes this letter; Paul is writing the other one but he talks about the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the one that Paul offered his thanks to, to God the 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.” What do you mean born again to a living hope? That’s what happens when you believe in Christ. Remember Jesus told Nicodemus you must be born again, you must be born from above, which means be born again as Peter writes here. God caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He was raised because of our justification; the work of redemption was done. Now salvation can be given as a free gift to all who believe in Him. Thus, we are given a living hope. What do you mean? Verse 4, “To a living hope,” what does that mean? “To an inheritance imperishable and undefiled which will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” A tremendous statement. Very similar to what Jesus unfolded in Matthew chapter 6, earthly treasures get eaten up, rust away, they don’t endure. But heavenly treasure does. Peter says this heavenly treasure is imperishable, undefiled. It’s stored up in heaven for you. Oh, I hope I make it. Stored up in heaven for you, “who are protected by the power of God.” I’ll make it. You’ll note the questions are resolved. What if something happens to my heavenly inheritance? It won’t, it’s reserved in heaven, imperishable and undefiled. It will not fade away. It’s stored up in heaven for me and I’ll make it because I’m protected by the power of God through faith. What am I waiting for? For the culmination of my salvation, “that salvation that is ready to be revealed at the last time.” You know that I have been saved from the penalty of sin, I am being saved from the power of sin and I will be saved from the presence of sin. That ultimate climax of my salvation, I am completely saved, but I haven’t entered into the fullness of my salvation as yet, the glorification of this body and the taking possession of all that God has prepared for those who love Him.

You have to come back to Romans chapter 8. You know it’s this focus on the hope that keeps life in perspective. We are here, we are going to glory here. Along the way there’s a lot of trouble, a lot of difficulty, a lot of pain, a lot of suffering. Doesn’t mean that’s all there is to life. But remember Jesus said in this world you have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We are traveling this journey and it’s beset by difficulties, by unpleasantness, by hardships, but I keep my focus on the glory. In II Corinthians chapter 4 the Apostle Paul wrote, “for momentary, light affliction is working for us an eternal weight of glory.” You’ll note the comparison. Our afflictions, our sufferings are momentary, they are light. You say oh you don’t know what I’ve gone through. No, and I do look at some people and say it’s almost overwhelming what they bear. But Paul says compare it to the eternal weight of glory, and it’s not worthy to be compared to it. I take this newspaper and I say how would you compare this piece of paper to the life of your child? You say there’s no comparison. There’s no work into that paper. You say you know what you’re going to do now that you’re done with that? You’re going to throw it away. There’s no way to compare it with my child. Well Paul says that’s what we’re talking about. Your afflictions. You know you look at this piece of paper and you say at one time it was a tree and it went through this process, and it went through that, then it went through this. This is really something. You say what a sad thing if somebody would become all absorbed in this piece of paper. Because you know what’s going to happen? I’m going to throw it in the trash, and it’ll end up in the incinerator. You don’t compare that to your child. I mean there is no comparison. That’s what Paul says under the inspiration of Scripture. Remember the Spirit of God is directing Him, the Spirit of God who knows the glory that has been prepared for us. These afflictions are nothing, they are momentary, they are light, there will come a day they’ll be gone. But the glory is weighty and eternal.

Look at Romans chapter 8 verse 18. Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” I can’t compare the two, there is no comparison. Verse 24, “we’ve been saved in hope” and hope means you haven’t seen it yet. I’ve never seen heaven; I’ve never seen the glory that God has prepared for me as one who loves Him. But we’ve been saved in hope. Paul is thankful that the Colossians are living out the hope that they have now laid up in heaven. Why? That’s demonstrated in the way you live. Some people talk about heaven and hope and treasure, and you know it’s like something, oh it’s good to know that. They put it in their back pocket, and they’re done with it. This shapes everything now because the hope that is laid up for me dominates everything in my life, the pain, the disappointments, the hardships, the good things, all put in perspective. Here we go, glory is ahead.

We have the Spirit, verse 23 of Romans 8 says, and “our body is groaning as we await that final completion of our redemption of our body.” Glorification. In this process, verse 28, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes.” So, in all this work of God, verse 31, “What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” Concluding with that great declaration of the love of God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Paul was overwhelmed with gratitude as he heard the testimony of the Colossians and their lives. They were living totally transformed lives. Now with their faith in Christ, giving themselves in love to other believers, focused on the hope of what they had in glory. That’s a radical change of life. Sometimes we get the idea that Christianity is simply believing in Christ and getting that settled and that will be good for when you die, but we have so much to deal with in life here that seems so overwhelming. Wait a minute, that is my life. I’m just someone passing through here on my way to glory. Strangers and pilgrims, we are, this world is not our home, we are citizens of heaven for which we are eagerly awaiting our Savior as Paul wrote to the Philippians. We have a hope. I’m saddened when I read this article, frustrated but saddened. People groping for hope in life, for meaning in life. What does it mean to be spiritual? I can tell you of the living God and what He can do to your life.

Come back to Colossians chapter 1. As you go to Colossians chapter 1 let me read you another passage. This is in I Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 2, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers.” Now he’s writing to the Thessalonians. “Constantly bearing in mind your work of faith, your labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.” “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” That’s where Paul is in Colossians chapter 1. “Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven,” verse 5, “of which you previously heard in the Word of truth, the gospel.” The gospel is the message of Christ. We don’t have time to go back to the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 40:9, Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah 60:6, Isaiah 61:1. All use the word gospel to talk about the coming of the Messiah, the glory concerning Him. You heard the word of truth, the gospel. The gospel is the word of truth, the gospel is the message concerning Jesus Christ. The gospel which tells us of our sin and lostness for which Christ came to this earth to suffer and die, I Corinthians 15. That’s the gospel, the good news. You are a sinner, but God in love provided His Son to pay the penalty for your sin so that by His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead God could offer you a free gift, forgiveness, eternal life.

The gospel is the word of truth. It partakes of God’s character. In Titus chapter 1 verse 2 we are told that we have a hope in Christ because the God who cannot lie promised us, the God who cannot lie promised us. David put it this way in II Samuel chapter 7 verse 28, “And now oh Lord you are God, and your words are truth, now oh Lord God you are God, and your words are truth.” They are inseparable. If you are God, your words are truth. Of course. God cannot lie, it’s contrary to His very character. He couldn’t be God and lie, so He’s made a promise. Psalm 119:151, “All your commandments are true.” Psalm 119:160, “The sum or your word is truth.” John 17:17, Jesus said to His Father, “Thy word is truth.” Psalm 119:89, “Forever oh Lord your word is settled in heaven.” Isaiah chapter 40:8, “The word of our God stands forever.” You understand what this means. Paul is filled with thanks for the Colossians because they have believed the gospel. It’s the word of truth and it will be true forever. God has made promises, He promises to give the free gift of life to any and all who believe in His Son. He cannot lie, He will do it. He promises to give with that life an eternal treasure, a heavenly inheritance as the hope for which you live. That’s what God promises to all who believe in His Son. Remember God cannot lie. It’s important to understand the God who cannot lie says that anyone who does not believe in His Son, He will cast into the fires of hell forever. “He that has the Son has life, he that has not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.” I John 5:12. That’s the promise of the God who cannot lie. It’s awesome, it’s frightening. It will happen just as surely as every single man, woman and child who placed their faith in Christ alone as Savior are gloriously saved, their life is transformed and they are given the hope of heavenly treasure that someday they will realize based upon the word of truth, the gospel. So, it is God’s word that all those who do not believe in His Son will experience the fullness of His wrath for all eternity. A glorious message. We as God’s people have so much to be thankful for. We nitpick, we get upset with one another. But you know we ought to just spend a good part of every day thanking God for fellow believers, the majesty of His work in their lives and the change that He has brought about. He is not done with them, but His work is going on in them, for people living in light of the hope. Is that how your life is lived? In faith in Christ, giving yourself for others in love, fixed on the hope stored up in heaven for you because you believed the word of truth, the gospel? If not, you can receive the gift of life very simply, by believing the truth that God has given. I trust that our lives are a testimony to that today, and I trust that you will come to know the Savior if you’ve not already.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful salvation, a wonderful salvation because you are a wonderful God. You have provided a wonderful Savior. In you we find all that we need, in the one who loved us and died for us, the one in whom all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, in Him we are made full. Thank you, Lord, for our salvation. Thank you for the salvation of other believers. May our hearts be filled with gratitude to you continually. Lord, I bring before you those who do not know the Savior. May this be a day of salvation for them, we pray. In Christ’s name. Amen.