Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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The famous Scottish preacher, Alexander Whyte, was known as an appreciator.
He loved to write
postcards to people, thanking them for some kind ness or blessing they had brought to his life.
Those messages often brought a touch of encouragement
to a heart just when others needed it most.
Appreciation is an excellent medicine for the soul giving.
In this section (which is one long sentence in the original Greek), he gives thanks for what
Christ has done in the lives of the Colossian Christians.
But he also mentions thanksgiving in
five other places in this letter: 1:12; 2:7; 3:15 and 17; and 4:2.
When you recall that Paul wrote this
letter in prison, his attitude of thanksgiving is even more incredible; Like Paul, we should be grateful for what God is doing in the lives of others.
As Christians, we are
all members of one body (1 Cor.
12:12-13).
If God is strengthening one
member of the body, this helps to strengthen the entire body.
If one church experiences a revival touch from God, it will help all the churches.
In this expression of thanksgiving, Paul
traced the stages in the spiritual experience of the Colossian believers.
They Heard the Gospel
The good news of the Gospel was not native to their city.
A Christian brought the Gospel to them; in their case, Epaphras was the messenger.
He was a citizen of Colossae (4:12-13), but he had come in contact with Paul and converted to Jesus Christ.
This was probably during Paul's great three-year ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19:10).
Once Epaphras had been saved, he shared this thrilling news with his relatives and friends back
home.
Perhaps it would have been exciting for Epaphras to stay with Paul in Ephesus where so
many wonderful things were taking place.
But his first responsibility was to take the Gospel to his own home city.
(See Mark 5:19.)
The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ has solved the problem of sin through His death, burial, and resurrection.
The word Gospel means "good news."
Unfortunately, some people witness as though the Gospel is the bad news of condemnation.
I recall one church officer who was more of a prosecuting attorney than a Christian witness.
Though he constantly reproved people for their sins, he failed to share the good news of forgiveness
through faith in Christ.
But we can learn a lesson from him.
In our witnessing, we should remember to emphasize the good news of the Gospel.
(See 1 Cor.
15:1-8.)
In this section in his letter to the Colossians, Paul reviews the characteristics of this exciting Gospel
message.
It centers in a Person-Jesus Christ.
The theme of this epistle is the preeminence of Jesus Christ, and He is undoubtedly preeminent in the Gospel.
The false teachers who had invaded the fellowship in Colossae were trying to remove Jesus Christ from His place of preeminence; but to do this was to destroy the Gospel.
It is Christ who died for us, and who rose again.
The Gospel message does not center in philosophy, a doctrine, or a religious system.
It centers in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
It is the "word of truth" (1:5, NIV).
This means that it came from God and can be trusted.
"Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).
Some many messages and ideas can be called true, but only
God's Word can be called truth.
Satan is the liar; to believe his lies is to be led astray into death
(John 8:44).
Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6); when we trust Him, we experience life.
Men have tried
to destroy God's truth, but they have failed.
The Word of truth still stands!
Everybody has faith in something.
But faith is only as good as the object in which a person puts
his trust.
The jungle pagan worships a god of stone; the educated city pagan worships money or possessions or status.
In both cases, faith is empty.
The
true Christian believer has faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith is based on the Word of truth.
Any other kind of faith is but superstition-it cannot save.
It is the message of God's grace (1:6b).
Two words in the Christian vocabulary are often con-
fused: grace and mercy.
God in His grace gives me what I do not deserve.
Yet God in His mercy does
not give me what I do deserve.
Grace is God's favor shown to undeserving sinners.
The reason the
Gospel is good news is because of grace: God is willing and able to save all who will trust Jesus
Christ.
John Selden (1584-1654) was a leading historian
and legal authority in England.
He had a library
of 8000 volumes and was recognized for his learning.
ing.
When he was dying, he said to Archbishop
Ussher: "I have surveyed most of the learning that
is among the sons of men, and my study is filled
with books and manuscripts on various subjects.
But at present, I cannot recollect any passage out
of all my books and papers whereon I can rest my
soul, save this from the sacred Scriptures: The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men' (Titus 2:11).
It is for the whole world (1:6).
When I was a young pastor, one of my favorite preachers was
Dr. Walter Wilson of Kansas City.
He had a unique way of making old truths seem new and exciting.
I once heard him quote John 3:16 and ask, "If you were to give a gift that would be suitable for the
whole world, what would you give?"
He then listed several possibilities and showed
how those gifts could not suit everybody: books
(many people cannot read); foods (people eat
different things in different parts of the world);
clothing (climates are different); money (not every
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