Faith, Love, and Hope
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Today I want to look at the opening of the book of Colossians. This book was written by the apostle Paul is a very Christological book, it informs to a deep extent the person and the work of Christ. This is largely to address the problems that they are facing in Colossae. Though it is not mentioned explicitly most scholars agree that the issues facing the Colossians is a issue of Jewish folk belief, this particularly relates to things that are more Jewish in nature such as their laws but it also deals with the person of Christ.
Colossae would have been about a third of the way from Israel to Rome and is near several towns that you would probably recognize, most notably Ephesus. Though there was proximity to other places that Paul went there is no record of him ever visiting Colossae. The church was probably started while Paul was in Ephesus, potentially Ephapras their pastor came to faith through Paul's ministry in Ephesus.
The opening of this book does not dive right into the issues that the people face though, it opens with a thanksgiving which is not unusual for Paul but in this thanksgiving he commends the people greatly. What I want us to think about today is where we stand on the things that Paul commends them for and how we can grow in these areas. So with this bit of background lets now look at our text, Colossians 1.1-8.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
This is the word of God.
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This letter starts off in customary Pauline fashion. Paul identifies himself as an apostle, thus giving him a position of authority. He did not come to this position by his own will though, it was by the will of God. We see the strong call that he has in Acts 9.1-3
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.
Then down a few verses in Acts 9.20
And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
Paul is a man that was struck by the will of God and became the apostle to the gentiles. The letter to the Colossians is one of Paul’s prison letters meaning that he was in prison for proclaiming the gospel while he wrote it. He went from throwing Christians into jail for their faith to in jail himself. This is the power of the will of God.
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Paul was not alone in writing this though, there is also Timothy. Timothy is not denoted as a apostle but rather a beloved brother. He was probably known by the people because of his relationship to Paul. Paul taught Timothy and built him up and they have a very deep relationship.
After opening the letter with who it is from he addresses who the letter is to. This address not only gives us a physical location of who it is to but also a spiritual location. The physical is clear, it is Colossae. The spiritual is the saints and faithful brothers in Christ. This is written to Christians. The word saints does not give any inherent moral qualities, it is merely denoting that they are the holy ones, not that they are perfect but they have received Christs’ holiness through faith. They are also denoted as being in Christ. This is describing the deep saving relationship that they have with Christ. Later in verse 4 it says the words in Christ again, here it is the location of their faith. They are completely wrapped up and consumed in Christ.
Paul then concludes his greeting with the salutation of grace and peace. This is very customary across the Pauline books. Grace is a very Christian addition to the greeting and peace is very customary among Jews.
This greeting is followed by the thanksgiving and prayer, I just want to look at the thanksgiving portion though today. Paul is very intentional with giving thanks and I think that what we see here in these verses is something very unique. Paul points out some things about the people of Colossae that we can look at and grow in.
The point on my sermon today can be summarized in this; The people of Colossae are faithful people who love well, this all springs from the hope that they have.
Lets go to God in prayer this morning and then we can begin by looking at their faithfulness.
They are Faithful
They are Faithful
The first thing that Paul really drives home is that the people of Colossae are faithful. We see this first in Colossians 1.2
To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Then again in Colossians 1.4
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
So Paul has heard of their faith in Christ and without personally knowing them goes so far as to call them faithful brothers. Whenever Paul hears of people being faithful he wants to commend them for it because it is of upmost importance. It says in Galatians 5.5-6
For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
It says only faith counts for anything. This puts forward that faith is of the upmost importance. That is why Paul always commends people for it whenever he can and that is why it is such a prevalent theme throughout his letters.
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Paul also commends Epaphras for his faith, calling him a faithful minister in verse 8. That is high regards for a minister, I hope to live my life in a way that if I was locked up with Paul he would say something like this about me!
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Notice the object of their faith too. I do not want us to miss this point. Faithful brothers in Christ, faith in Jesus Christ, faithful minister of Christ. When we are looking at faith in this passage it is all aimed at one person and that is Jesus Christ. He is the object of their faith and he should be the object of our faith. When we think of our faith it should always be aimed at Christ.
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We should all strive for deeper faithfulness to Christ. This is a deeper trust and reliance on him. Think about it, if our pastor was locked up in prison with the apostle Paul what kind of letter would we be getting? Now I do not think that we would be receiving a letter like some but it is a good thought for us. This is not just a collective thing either, we must also think about this from an individual standpoint. What does my life reflect? does it reflect a life of faithfulness or does it reflect something else?
So then we must ask ourselves how can we grow in our faithfulness?
Sit with God
Sit with God
The first truths in regard to this are obvious to most but I will say them still, we need to be in communion with God, we need to sit with God. What I mean by this is that we need to be in his word reading, studying, and meditating on it. This also means that we need to be in prayer to him. These two things are things that Christians all agree we should do but things we often neglect. We may read a verse or two and ask God to heal the sick people but there needs to be more, that is not enough for us. We need to lift up prayers of thanksgiving, we need to lift up prayers asking for our faith to be deepened, we need to be saturated in his word, all of his word. This will increase our faith.
Where do you think the faithfulness of the people of Colossae came from? It says in verse 5 that it came from the word of truth. Prayer is also mentioned throughout the book and is obvious that the people saw it as highly important.
Walk in Faith
Walk in Faith
The next thing that we can do is from 2 Corinthians 5.7 which says
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
If we are going to increase our faith and become more faithful we need to walk in faith more and more. The context of 2 Corinthians is looking towards our heavenly dwelling, we must have our eyes set there so that faith is all we need. This may look like stepping out to serve in an area that you feel drawn too but you also feel scared about. This may require changes in your personal life and your work life. We have to trust in the Lord and if we are going to do this we need to do it in all of life. Let your faith show everywhere, take those leaps of faith that are daunting and scary, live a life that you cannot live on your own. It is when you live a life that you cannot live on your own that you have to trust God, here is where faith is multiplied and you become a person defined by faith.
Transition
Transition
There is good news about all of this though because of Christ we can be faithful and we can grow in our faithfulness. Without him we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Through the work that he accomplished on the cross we can have faith.
The people of Colossae are not only commended for their faith though, they are also commended for the love that they display, so lets look at this next.
They Love Well
They Love Well
The next thing that Paul points about and commends them for is that they love well. We see this first in Colossians 1.4
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,
This love is directed towards fellow Christians, towards the holy ones, towards those whom Christ has changed. So there is a deep love that they have for one another. Then in Colossians 1.8
and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
This description tells us that their love is prompted and promoted by the Holy Spirit. They are a deeply loving people, so much so that their pastor is bragging on them to the apostle. You know it would be easy for him to be telling Paul all of the issues that he is having so that he can go to them with apostolic authority and tell them to straighten up, instead he is telling Paul that his people are faith filled people that are so loving towards everyone, especially their fellow Christians. He is telling him that they are living a life worthy of the gospel.
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We know that love is a very important thing in the Bible, it is the first fruit of the Spirit after all. About love it says in 1 Corinthians 13.13
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
We are talking about these three things today and here it says that love is the greatest of the three. Why is this? It is because faith makes us capable of it and hope motivates us towards it. We are being driven to love! Love is the greatest commandment after all Matthew 22.36-40 says
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Love is something that the church in Colossae is commended for and it should be something that defines us as a church. I think that we are a loving church but I want this to go even further and for us to have a reputation of love all throughout the community. For us to be a beacon of love and people to be drawn to this and when they come closer they see even more love amongst us that is filled with faith towards Christ. What a beautiful picture this would be to see right here in Cordell. To this end what must we do?
Love Universally
Love Universally
The first thing for us to do to love one another more is to love universally. There should be nothing that prevents us from loving one another. There should be no past issues that are unforgiven, there should be no social barriers, there should be no personality differences, there should be nothing that stops us from loving one another completely.
We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, notice the language that Paul uses when referring to the church in Colossae. He uses family type language. This is how we should love one another. We are all in Christ!
Our love for each other should be as universal as Christs’s love for the church.
Love Sacrificially
Love Sacrificially
Real love is difficult and demanding. It may ask you to drop what you are doing and respond to something, it may ask you to change your schedule, it may ask you to give up time. You know one big way to love sacrificially is to serve, there are people that I am sure would love a small break and by you stepping up you can provide that for them so that they can come back and serve in a rejuvenated way.
I have some friends that ask me why I tend to work on my days off and I tell them that there is so much to be done for Christs’s church and I will sacrifice that time for her. I know our pastor feels the same because often times I am not alone here in the office on those days off.
Loving sacrificially is tough but it is what true love looks like.
Love Christ
Love Christ
Finally we must love Christ. This is what brought us together in the first place, it is Christ. Because of this we should seek to love him more and in return we will love each other better. We should strive to love better but the truth is that we will never love perfect, this is why we seek Christ and love him, because he loves perfect. It is us being united in loving Christ that will spur on our love for one another further and further.
Transition
Transition
In Christ we can love well, and it is only in Christ that we can do this. Because of the love that he has shown us.
One question still lingers though, being loving and faithful is hard work why should we do it? What is the point? Why do the Colossians love well and why are they so faithful?
They do this because of Hope
They do this because of Hope
Why are the people so faithful and loving? It is because of hope. Look at Colossians 1.5
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
Their eyes are set on their hope, this hope is the totality of blessings that await them in the life to come. This hope is based on something that is as good as a fact but has not yet been realized. This hope is not subjective, it does not change based on any situation, but rather objective.
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It is hope that motivates them and it is hope that should motivate us to the same end. When our eyes are set on Christ and we are awaiting the blessed future with him then following him in full faith is not so much of a challenge anymore. When our eyes are set on him and we are awaiting this blessed future with him then loving well is almost second nature, even towards difficult people. We must keep our eyes fixed on Christ the founder and perfecter of our faith. The one who loves us enough to lay down his life for us.
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Not only should we keep our eyes fixed on this hope, this hope should be flowing out of us in every aspect of life. Look again at Colossians 1.5
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
They have heard it in the word of truth, the gospel! Look further at Colossians 1.6
which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
The gospel has come to them, this hope has come to them. It is bearing fruit and increasing among them. Not them only but also the whole world! Do you see the perspective that Paul has in this statement? He has a local interest in the people of Colossae but he also has a global perspective in the advance of the gospel.
Our brother Jacob in Providence has a local interest in his city but there is also a large global perspective of the gospel in his church as they seek to reach college students from all over the world. Our brother Ben from Mombassa Kenya who tunes into our live-stream each week has a local interest in his church and in his community as well as a global perspective as he messages me to see how the ministry is going.
Our hope is in Christ and we have gained this hope through the gospel. This gospel is not merely a local event there in Colossae or here in Cordell, it is a global event. We should dig in here with it and let it flow out of our very being. God is advancing the gospel in the time of the Colossians and he is advancing it here in our time.
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People around us see where our hope lies. Some see a hope that lies in the price of wheat or cattle, some see a hope that lies in the prices of gas, let them see a hope that lies in the creator of the universe, let them see a hope that lies in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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We have come into this hope through the gospel by faith. This faith was proclaimed to the Church in Colossae by the beloved Epaphras and at one time was proclaimed to you in such a way that you gave your life to it. This is the hope that gave us forgiveness of our sins. The sins that we all have and the sins that make us worthy of death and eternal punishment. This hope came and gave his life on the cross in our place. This hope also rose from the grave three days later conquering sin and death forever. This hope says to lay hold of this forgiveness is to put your faith in him. This hope is Christ.
We cannot be faithful and loving in a Christlike way without first having Christ. We must have this hope, we must be saved. Jesus says in Mark 1 that we must repent and believe in the gospel, this is the way for salvation. By putting your faith in him and turning away from your sins he will forgive you and love you and he will be your hope.
With this hope we can do so much, with this hope motivating us and pushing us forward we can become ever more faithful to Christ and we can become ever more loving as the church.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If you do not have this hope within you, if you have never put your faith in Christ then do not wait any longer. Put your faith in him for salvation and lay hold of this hope. Then be changed by it as you grow in faith and love more and more.
For those of you who have put your faith in Christ are your eyes set on him as your only hope? Are you looking to that hope as you grow in your faith and faithfulness? And you motivated by that hope to grow in your ability to love?
Today to some extent we all need to turn to Christ in deeper faith, to some extent we need to love better, to some extent we all need to keep our hope set on him more. This may require difficult action, you may need to walk across the sanctuary and ask for forgiveness, you may need to go to your knees in prayer, you may need the difficult action. Do not be stagnant.
The people of Colossae are faithful people who love well, this all springs from the hope that they have. May we be the same.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
Amen, so let it be.
