Sermon Tone Analysis

! I.     Notice in V 5b it says, “whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;”

!! A.  Our hope comes from one great source and that is the gospel or the Word of God.

!!! 1.    Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

!!!! a)    SISTER book (Eph 1:13) Says, “In whom ye also trusted , after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:”

!! B.  Verse 6, “Which is come unto you.”

!!! 1.    He’s talking about the WORD OF GOD coming unto them.

!!!! a)    God’s Word is for you, it is personal.

(Every person must respond to the Gospel, the Word of God).

!!! 2.    He goes on to say, “as it is in all the world.”

!!!! a)    The Word of God is not only for you personally, but it is for all the world.

!!!!! (1)  (ACTS 10:24) Says, “God is no respecter of persons.”

!!!! b)    The Word of God is not only for any particular body, the nation, religion, church, social class, or intelligence.

!!!!! (1)  Jesus said in (Mark 16:15), “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

(cf.

Luke 24:47)

!!! 3.    Paul goes on to say in Col 1:6 that the Word of God “bringeth forth fruit.”

!!!! a)    God’s Word produces fruit.

!!!!! (1)  In Mark 4:28-29 it says that the Word will produce “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

 29  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

!!!!! (2)  WHAT FURIT?

Fruit of the spirit (Gal 2:22-23 read); It will produce the fruit of righteous, It will produce the blessings of God.

!!! 4.    AND IT WILL PRODUCE FAITH.

(ROM 10:17)

!

II.Col 1:7

!! A.  The Colossians learned the Gospel from EPAPHRAS who apparently founded the church at Colosse.

!!! 1.    Paul calls him a dear fellow servant and faithful minister of Christ.

!!!! a)    He was more than just a fellow servant with Paul.

In (Philemon 23) Paul says, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings.”

NIV

!!!! b)    When Paul was in prison apparently, Epaphras was there with him ministering to his needs.

!!!! c)     It is also apparent that Epaphras came to Paul with some questions about how to deal with certain error that has crept into the church.

(We'll get into that later).

!!!!! (1)  Apparently, Paul grew to have a close relationship with him.

It is also possible that Paul commissioned Epaphras to go to Colosse and begin the work there.

As we said in an earlier message Epaphras was the pastor at the church in Colosse.

!!! 2.    “Epaphras” is a shortening of “Epaphroditus,” referred to in Philippians 2:25 and 4:18 .

These could be the same person or different persons since both names were common.

!!! 3.    Paul had not visited Colosse himself ( cf.

Col. 2:1).

Epaphras was sent by Paul, but he was a “minister of Christ.”

!! B.  Paul and Epaphras are both ministers of the gospel.

!!! 1.    God did not commit the gospel to the hands of angels but rather to man.

!!! 2.    He has chosen man and holds man accountable for sharing His Word.

!!!! a)    Jesus said in John 15:16a, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your joy should remain.”

!! C.       Col 1:8

!!! 1.

Not only did Epaphras carry the good news to Colosse, but he also brought back to Paul who was in prison, the good news about their love in the Spirit for Christ.

!!! 2.    In this verse Paul talks about their love.

!!!! a)    This is really one of the ways to know if a person is a true Christian.

The Bible says in (Romans 5:5) that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.

!!!! b)    And in (Galatians 5:22) Paul also said that the fruit of the spirit is love.

!!!!! (1)  One of the first fruits that a believer will produce in their lives is LOVE.

!

III.

Colossians 1:9-11

!! A.  We've talked about Ephesians being the sister book to Colossians and we have a another similar verse found in both books.

!!! 1.    Ephesians 1:17-18a says, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:  18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;" let's read Colossians 1:9 again.

!!!! a)    There's also some similarities in this verse from other books that Paul wrote such as Ephesians 1:16, Romans 11:29, Ephesians 1:11, 1st Thessalonians 5:17.

!!! 2.    In verse 9 Paul said that he does not cease to pray for them.

!!!! a)    This backs up a teaching in the Word of God that says we are to continuously pray 1 for another.

In other words never give up in praying for them.

!!!! b)    However, there is another teaching that says we should only pray once.

!!!!! (1)  If were truly in faith believing God we only need to pray once for ourselves, but Paul says here that he continues to pray for other people.

!!!!!! (a)   When were praying for ourselves, we're in agreement with God, but when you're praying for someone else, you might be in agreement with God but the persons will is also involved.

!!!!!! (b)   How do we continue to pray in faith?

! WOLCC Thursday, January 30, 2003 & Thursday, February 06, 2003