"Things We Need to Know"

SERMON OUTLINE GIVING THANKS FOR FAITH AND LOVE COLOSSIANS 1:1-8 INTRODUCTION 1. ILLUSTRATION: FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT, WAS STANDING IN A RECEIVING LINE AT THE WHITE HOUSE. HE NOTICED NO ONE REALLY PAID ANY ATTENTION TO WHAT HE SAID. HE DECIDED TO TRY AN EXPERIMENT. TO EACH PERSON WHO PASSED DOWN THE LINE AND SHOOK HIS HAND, HE MURMURED, "I KILLED MY GRANDMOTHER THIS MORNING." THE GUESTS RESPONDED WITH PHRASES LIKE, "MARVELOUS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. WE ARE PROUD OF YOU. GOD BLESS YOU, SIR." IT WAS NOT TILL THE END OF THE LINE, WHILE GREETING THE AMBASSADOR FROM BOLIVIA, THAT HIS WORDS WERE ACTUALLY HEARD. UN-PHASED, THE AMBASSADOR LEANED OVER AND WHISPERED, "I'M SURE SHE HAD IT COMING." 2. LIFE: IN LIFE WE DECIDE WHAT WORDS WE LISTEN TO AND WHAT WORDS WE IGNORE. THIS DECISION IS BASED ON MANY FACTORS. ONE OF THESE FACTORS IS THE AUTHORITY OF THE ONE SPEAKING. 3. NEED: WE NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL TO LISTEN WHEN SOMEONE IS SPEAKING BY GOD’S AUTHORITY. 4. TEXT: TODAY WE ARE GOING TO BEGIN A STUDY IN THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS. IN THIS BOOK PAUL IS WRITING BY THE AUTHORITY OF GOD TO CORRECT SOME FALSE TEACHING. TURN WITH ME IF YOU WILL IN YOUR BIBLE TO THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 1, VERSE 1. 5. CONTEXT: THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS WAS WRITTEN BY THE APOSTLE PAUL ABOUT A.D. 60–62, WHILE HE WAS IMPRISONED IN ROME. ONE PURPOSE WAS TO CORRECT THE HERESY THAT HAD SPRUNG UP IN THE ASIAN CITY OF COLOSSE. I. ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE UNITED IN HAVING ONE AUTHORITY, GOD.V1-2 COLOSSIANS 1:1–2 PAUL, AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST BY THE WILL OF GOD, AND TIMOTHY OUR BROTHER, TO THE SAINTS AND FAITHFUL BRETHREN IN CHRIST WHO ARE AT COLOSSAE: GRACE TO YOU AND PEACE FROM GOD OUR FATHER. A. ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD HAVE ONE AUTHORITY, GOD!V1 THIS OPENING PHRASE USES SEVERAL CONCEPTS TO EMPHASIZE PAUL’S GOD-GIVEN AUTHORITY. “APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS” MEANS THAT PAUL IS WRITING IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS THE LORD’S AMBASSADOR. “BY THE WILL OF GOD.” HIS WAS AN APOSTLESHIP BY GOD’S INITIATIVE, NOT BY HIS OWN EFFORTS. BY DEFINITION, AN APOSTLE IS AN OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE APPOINTED BY CHRIST; AN OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN AUTHORIZED BY CHRIST TO SPEAK ON HIS BEHALF; AND AN OFFICIAL ADMINISTRATOR COMMISSIONED TO SET THE CHURCHES IN ORDER. VALIDATE: GALATIANS 1:11–12 FOR I WOULD HAVE YOU KNOW, BRETHREN, THAT THE GOSPEL WHICH WAS PREACHED BY ME IS NOT ACCORDING TO MAN. FOR I NEITHER RECEIVED IT FROM MAN, NOR WAS I TAUGHT IT, BUT I RECEIVED IT THROUGH A REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. B. ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE UNITED.V2A “TO THE SAINTS AND FAITHFUL BRETHREN IN CHRIST.” THIS PHRASE MARKS THEM AS HOLY PEOPLE, CHOSEN AND SET APART FOR GOD. PAUL SPEAKS OF ‘THE SAINTS’, BUT HE IS NOT REFERRING TO THOSE WHO HAVE AN ADVANCED LEVEL OF HOLINESS; RATHER HE IS ADDRESSING EVERY BELIEVER JUSTIFIED BY FAITH ALONE. THE CHURCH FOUNDED BY JESUS CHRIST IS PRESENTED TO OUR VIEW AS A “FAMILY OF GOD,” IN WHICH ALL THE MEMBERS ARE CHILDREN OF GOD AND BRETHREN TO EACH OTHER. ILLUSTRATE: HAS IT EVER OCCURRED TO YOU THAT ONE HUNDRED PIANOS ALL TUNED TO THE SAME FORK ARE AUTOMATICALLY TUNED TO EACH OTHER? THEY ARE OF ONE ACCORD BY BEING TUNED, NOT TO EACH OTHER, BUT TO ANOTHER STANDARD TO WHICH EACH ONE MUST INDIVIDUALLY BOW. SO ONE HUNDRED WORSHIPERS [MEETING] TOGETHER, EACH ONE LOOKING TO CHRIST, ARE IN HEART NEARER AND MORE UNIFIED TO EACH OTHER THAN THEY IF THEY FOCUSED 'UNITY' WITH ONE ANOTHER OTHER. C. ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD DESIRE GRACE AND PEACE FOR ONE ANOTHER.V2B PAUL’S CHARACTERISTIC GREETING INCLUDES GRACE AND PEACE. “PEACE” IS THE RESULT OF UNDERSTANDING THE CHARACTER OF GOD AND THE PROMISES OF THE GOSPEL. PEACE IS AN INTERNAL JOY AND STABILITY APART FROM CIRCUMSTANCES, DISRUPTIVE FALSE TEACHINGS OR PERSECUTION! “GRACE” POINTED THE READERS TO THE BASIS OF THEIR NEW LIFE IN CHRIST, AS WELL AS THE STATE OF GRACE IN WHICH THEY WERE TO CONDUCT THEIR LIVES. “PEACE” WAS A PRAYER FOR THE GENERAL WELL-BEING OF THE READERS. THE TWO ARE SEQUENTIAL, GRACE PRECEDING PEACE, AND BOTH COME AS GIFTS FROM GOD. APPLY: THE WAY WE KEEP GOD AS OUR AUTHORITY IS TO TAKE ANY INFORMATION WE GET AND COMPARE IT TO WHAT GOD HAS SAID IN THE BIBLE. WHEN THE INFORMATION LINES UP WITH THE BIBLE WE ACCEPT IT. WHEN THE INFORMATION DOES NOT LINE UP WITH THE BIBLE WE REJECT IT. IF WE ALL LIVE BY GOD’S AUTHORITY WE WILL LIVE IN UNITY. LIVING BY THE AUTHORITY OF GOD ALSO BRINGS GRACE AND PEACE. TRANSITION: UNITY, GRACE, AND PEACE ARE ALL THINGS WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL FOR. II. ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD CHRISTIANS SHOULD GIVE THANKS IN PRAYER.V3-5A COLOSSIANS 1:3–5A 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, A. THANK GOD IN PRAYER.V3 SINCE PAUL OFTEN EMPHASIZED THE ACTIVITY OF PRAYER, HE WANTED TO SHARE THE FACT THAT HE ACTUALLY REMEMBERED THEM IN PRAYER. HERE GOD IS RECOGNIZED AS THE CAUSE OF GOODNESS IN HIS PEOPLE. PAUL IS NOT TELLING HIS AUDIENCE HE IS GRATEFUL, IS DRAWING THEIR ATTENTION TO THE GREAT THINGS GOD HAS BESTOWED ON THEM. B. THANK GOD FOR FAITH AND LOVE.V4 “YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS” IS THE FIRST GROUND OF THIS THANKSGIVING; YOUR FAITH, RESTING ON CHRIST, MOVING ITSELF IN HIM; WALKING WITH HIM. FAITH IS ESSENTIAL IN ORDER TO PLEASE GOD, AND IT IS ONLY IN CHRIST THAT GENUINE FAITH LIVES. VALIDATE: HEBREWS 11:6 AND WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM, FOR HE WHO COMES TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS AND THAT HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO SEEK HIM. HE EMPLOYS THE EXPRESSION, LOVE TOWARDS THE SAINTS, NOT WITH THE VIEW OF EXCLUDING OTHERS, BUT BECAUSE, IN PROPORTION AS ANY ONE IS JOINED TO US IN GOD, WE OUGHT TO EMBRACE HIM THE MORE CLOSELY WITH A SPECIAL AFFECTION. John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” THE EARLY PAGANS COMMENTED ON THIS CHRISTIAN LOVE: NEVER HAVING SEEN EACH OTHER, CHRISTIANS TREATED EACH OTHER AS BROTHERS. THIS WAS ASTONISHING TO THE PAGAN MIND. FAITH AND LOVE ARE THE CHIEF POINTS, IN JUDGING OF THE CONDITION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. THESE ARE TWO THINGS WE NEED TO THANK GOD FOR WHEN WE SEE THEM IN OUR CHURCH. C. WE HAVE HOPE IN HEAVEN.V5A HOPE CAN BE DEFINES AS ‘A PATIENT WAITING AND A CONFIDENT EXPECTATION’. ALL BELIEVERS HAVE HOPE LAID UP FOR THEM IN HEAVEN. HOPE IS ABOUT TOMORROW AND THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROMISES TO US IN CHRIST. OUR HOPE IS LAID UP FOR US IN HEAVEN IN TWO WAYS, 1) THAT IS WHERE CHRIST IS NOW AND OUR HOPE IS IN HIM ALONE. 2) THAT WHERE OUR FUTURE IS, OUR PROMISED COMFORT, REST, AND PEACE. HOPE PROVIDES THE FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIAN GROWTH SINCE THE MOST BASIC ELEMENTS OF FAITH TOWARD GOD AND LOVE TOWARD OTHERS GROW OUT OF HOPE. WITHOUT HOPE THERE IS NO REASON FOR FAITH OR LOVE, AND EVERYTHING IS DIRECTED TO OURSELVES AND OUR WORLDLY THINGS. FAITH IS THE SOUL LOOKING UPWARD TO GOD; LOVE LOOKS OUTWARD TO OTHERS; HOPE LOOKS FORWARD TO THE FUTURE. FAITH RESTS ON THE PAST WORK OF CHRIST; LOVE WORKS IN THE PRESENT; AND HOPE ANTICIPATES THE FUTURE. ILLUSTRATE: A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO RESEARCHERS PERFORMED AN EXPERIMENT TO SEE THE EFFECT HOPE HAS ON THOSE UNDERGOING HARDSHIP. TWO SETS OF LABORATORY RATS WERE PLACED IN SEPARATE TUBS OF WATER. THE RESEARCHERS LEFT ONE SET IN THE WATER AND FOUND THAT WITHIN AN HOUR THEY HAD ALL DROWNED. THE OTHER RATS WERE PERIODICALLY LIFTED OUT OF THE WATER AND THEN RETURNED. WHEN THAT HAPPENED, THE SECOND SET OF RATS SWAM FOR OVER 24 HOURS. WHY? NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE GIVEN A REST, BUT BECAUSE THEY SUDDENLY HAD HOPE! THOSE ANIMALS SOMEHOW HOPED THAT IF THEY COULD STAY AFLOAT JUST A LITTLE LONGER, SOMEONE WOULD REACH DOWN AND RESCUE THEM. IF HOPE HOLDS SUCH POWER FOR UNTHINKING RODENTS, HOW MUCH GREATER SHOULD IS EFFECT BE ON OUR LIVES. APPLY: WE ARE TO LOVE EACH OTHER WITH LOVE THAT COMES FROM FAITH BECAUSE WE ARE HEADED FOR THE SAME GREAT HOPE IN HEAVEN, FOR THE SAME INHERITANCE OF GLORY, FOR THE SAME BLESSED GOAL. THE LOVE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS THAT SACRIFICIAL, CARING, SERVING LOVE. THE KIND CHRIST HAD FOR US. TRANSITION: WHEN WE UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE WE RESPOND IN FAITH AND LOVE, BECAUSE IT BRINGS US THIS HOPE. III. ALL CHRISTIANS SHOULD KNOW THE GOSPEL UNDERSTANDING THE GOSPEL RESULTS GROWTH AND LOVE.V5B-8 COLOSSIANS 1:5B–8 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 ALSO 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 IS A FAITHFUL SERVANT OF CHRIST ON OUR BEHALF, AND HE ALSO INFORMED US OF YOUR LOVE IN THE SPIRIT. A. KNOW WHERE YOU HEARD THE GOSPEL.V5B&7 THE COLOSSIANS THE GOSPEL, FROM EPAPHRAS WHO MAY HAVE FOUNDED THE CHURCH AT COLOSSE. PAUL CALLED HIM A “BELOVED FELLOW BOND-SERVANT,” WHAT A GREAT THING TO BE CALLED. THEY HEARD IT FROM EPAPHRAS, DO YOU RECALL WHERE YOU FIRST HEARD THE GOSPEL? IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU EVER HEARD. WE MIGHT WANT TO KEEP TRACK OF WHERE WE HEARD IT FIRST. SINCE FAITH IS GOD’S WORD LIVING IN THE HEART OF MAN, ITS ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH DEPENDS ALTOGETHER UPON THE PREACHING OF THIS WORD OF GOD. ROMANS 10:14 HOW THEN WILL THEY CALL ON HIM IN WHOM THEY HAVE NOT BELIEVED? HOW WILL THEY BELIEVE IN HIM WHOM THEY HAVE NOT HEARD? AND HOW WILL THEY HEAR WITHOUT A PREACHER? B. KNOW THAT THE GOSPEL IS GROWING.V6A THE GOSPEL IS BEARING ITS FRUIT AND GROWING “IN ALL THE WORLD”. WHAT THEY WITNESSED IN COLOSSAE IS HAPPENING “IN ALL THE WORLD.” AS A TREE BEARS FRUIT AND GROWS IN SIZE, SO THE GOSPEL PRODUCES SPIRITUAL “FRUIT” IN BELIEVERS’ LIVES (CF. “THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT,”; “THE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,” AND SPREADS TO AND INFLUENCES OTHERS. GALATIANS 5:22 BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, THE APOSTLE WAS ENCOURAGING THIS ISOLATED CONGREGATION BY LETTING THEM KNOW CHRIST’S GOSPEL WAS POWERFUL AND FRUITFUL EVERYWHERE, AND THEY WERE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE OF GOD. C. KNOW THE GOSPEL GROWS WHEN PEOPLE UNDERSTAND IT.V6B THE FIRST PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL WAS FOLLOWED BY THE UNDERSTANDING OF IT, AND FROM THAT TIME FORTH THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE CHURCH DEVELOPED AND GREW IN FAITH AND LOVE. GREEK WORD TRANSLATED HERE “UNDERSTOOD” IS EPIGNŌSKŌ WHICH MEANS “TO FULLY AND EXPERIENTIALLY KNOW.” THIS IS MORE THAN JUST KNOWING THE CONTENT OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE, THIS IS UNDERSTANDING AND EXPERIENCING THE GOSPEL. ILLUSTRATE: GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR IN TELLS ABOUT A STRATEGY FOR AN ORAL EXAM AT WEST POINT. THE FIRST SECTION WAS STUDYING THE TIME-SPACE RELATIONSHIP LATER FORMULATED BY EINSTEIN AS HIS THEORY OF RELATIVITY. THE TEXT WAS COMPLEX AND, BEING UNABLE TO COMPREHEND IT, I COMMITTED THE PAGES TO MEMORY. WHEN I WAS CALLED UPON TO RECITE, I SOLEMNLY REELED OFF ALMOST WORD FOR WORD WHAT THE BOOK SAID. OUR INSTRUCTOR, LOOKED AT ME SOMEWHAT QUIZZICALLY AND ASKED, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS THEORY?" IT WAS A BAD MOMENT FOR ME, BUT I DID NOT HESITATE IN REPLYING, "NO, SIR." YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PIN DROP. I BRACED MYSELF AND WAITED. AND THEN THE SLOW WORDS OF THE PROFESSOR: "NEITHER DO I, MR. MACARTHUR. SECTION PASSED." ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THIS LETTER WAS A GROWING FALSE GOSPEL THAT WAS BASED ON “HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.” THIS FALSE TEACHING LATTER BECAME KNOWN AS GNOSTICISM. BECAUSE THEY HAD FAITH AND LOVE PAUL KNEW THEY HAD UNDERSTOOD THE GOSPEL D. KNOW THAT A GROWING GOSPEL HAS LOVE.V8 NOT ONLY DID EPAPHRAS CARRY THE GOOD NEWS OF CHRIST TO COLOSSE, BUT HE ALSO BROUGHT BACK GOOD NEWS ABOUT THEIR LOVE IN THE SPIRIT FOR CHRIST TO PAUL. THIS IS HOW PAUL KNEW OF THEIR LOVE FOR ALL THE SAINTS. THIS LOVE MUST BE “IN THE SPIRIT”, THAT IT MAY BE PURE, AND EXTEND “TO ALL THE SAINTS”, THAT IT MAY BE EXPRESSED TO ALL, NOT LIMITED BY PREFERENCES, ARBITRARY AND SELFISH SYMPATHIES, NOT MOTIVATED BY PERSONAL GAIN. THIS LOVE IS AN ACTIVE LOVE THAT SERVES AND CARES FOR OTHERS. VALIDATE: JAMES 1:22 BUT PROVE YOURSELVES DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT MERELY HEARERS WHO DELUDE THEMSELVES. THIS IS A LOVE THAT DOES THE WORD OF GOD. APPLY: SO HOW DO WE DO THIS. WELL WE START BY KEEPING OUR EYES OPEN TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS. SACRIFICIAL LOVE STARTS WHEN WE BECOME AWARE OF OTHER PEOPLE’S NEEDS. THIS KIND OF LOVE PUTS THE NEEDS OF OTHERS ABOVE OUR OWN NEEDS. WE CANNOT DO THAT UNTIL WE ARE AWARE OF WHAT THEIR NEEDS ARE. OPENING OUR EYES TO THE STRUGGLES THOSE AROUND US ARE GOING THROUGH IS THE BEGINNING OF HAVING A “LOVE IN THE SPIRIT” BUT WE MUST PUT TIME, EFFORT, AND RESOURCES INTO ACTIONS INTO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS. THIS WILL MEAN TIME, EFFORT, AND RESOURCES THAT DO NOT GO INTO OUR NEEDS. AND THIS IS WHAT “LOVE IN THE SPIRIT” IS ALL ABOUT. IF WE DO NOT LET GO OF THINGS THAT FILL OUR OWN NEEDS TO FILL THE NEEDS OF OTHERS THEN IT IS NOT A SACRIFICIAL LOVE. CONCLUSION LOVE COMES OUT OF FAITH, FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, FAITH THAT HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS PAID FOR OUR SINS. FAITH IS BASED ON THE HOPE WE HAVE LAID UP IN HEAVEN, HOPE IS THE ASSURANCE OF OUR ETERNAL DESTINY. WE GAIN THIS HOPE WHEN WE UNDERSTAND THE GOSPEL MESSAGE. A MESSAGE PRESENTED BY THE AUTHORITY OF GOD. GOD GAVE PAUL THE AUTHORITY TO PRESENT THIS MESSAGE SENDING HIM OUT AS AN APOSTLE. BY THIS SAME AUTHORITY WE TELL PEOPLE THAT THERE IS A GOD WHO LOVES THEM AND WANTS AN ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM… ALTAR CALL IF THERE IS ANYONE HERE WHO HAS NOT TRUSTED IN CHRIST, ANYONE STILL TRYING TO EARN HEAVEN, IN A MOMENT I AM GOING TO PRAY A PRAYER AND WE ARE GOING TO SING A SONG. DURING THAT SONG I WOULD INVITE YOU TO COME FORWARD AND PLACE YOUR FAITH AND TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR. ADDITIONALLY IF THERE IS ANYONE WHO IS IN NEED OF PRAYER I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO COME FORWARD SO THAT I CAN PRAY FOR YOU. AND FINALLY IF THERE IS ANYONE HERE WHO WISHES TO BE A MEMBER OF THIS CHURCH THIS IS THE PROPER TIME TO COME FORWARD AND RECEIVE MEMBERSHIP IN THIS CHURCH.