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Colossians 1:3-8 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Please join me in turning to Paul's letter to the church at Colossae, the book of your copy of God's Word that we call Colossians.
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As we continue together our study last week looking at the first two verses, the salutation, as well as some of the background, the occasion for the writing of this letter.
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It's of interesting note, not in any strange supernatural way, but I was listening to that album this morning as I was kind of doing my last note preparation and praying for the preaching this morning.
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Evan Thomas way. Very good stuff.
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And we continue Colossians chapter 3 and I'll read to you through verse 8.
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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.
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Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing as it also does among you.
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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.
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He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and is to make known to us your love in the spirit.
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As we turn our minds and our hearts toward God's holy writ, let me remind you that this is God's word to us.
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It was written for his glory and our good.
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We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Now, as Paul begins to write this letter, we know that he's writing it to correct some type of heresy that was going on.
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And we talked at length about that last week, not knowing exactly what the heresy was,
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but being able to see some elements of some common heresy that was going on in the day.
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Paul wastes no time at all getting to the very meat of his letter to the Colossian believers.
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And he begins, as he rightly should, with the gospel.
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Notice the last half of verse 5.
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The word of the truth.
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The gospel.
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This is the good news of Jesus Christ.
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The very foundation from which all other truth is built.
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And so we should rightly understand the gospel as well as the outcomes of said good news.
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A wonderful historical summary of the gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 through 4.
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Where Paul says,
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Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you,
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which you received and which you stand, and by which you are being saved,
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if you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain or didn't believe at all.
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Verse 3,
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For I have delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,
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that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.
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That He was buried.
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That He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
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Which Paul repeats twice, which is to say that God had preordained and planned this thing to come to pass.
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That Jesus, the one they called the Christ, was in fact God's Son.
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And therefore, the work that was accomplished has veracity.
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It has meaning.
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It actually took its full effect in the world.
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The good news of Jesus Christ is that He came and died for the complete forgiveness of sins.
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And then He rose from the dead so that those who believe in Him will live forever.
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We cannot have good news without bad.
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And the bad news is that all of humanity has inherited the guilt of Adam.
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And we are guilty ourselves of living in direct opposition to the ways of God.
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Do not take your sin lightly as little and frivolous.
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Everything that you have done that has transgressed the law of God has said to Him,
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I hate you.
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You are my enemy.
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I know what's best for me.
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I am king.
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It is of great offense to a holy God.
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God cannot tolerate your sin.
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And therefore, you are separated from Him.
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And you are cast away from Him forever if you die without the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
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Jesus Christ came to save sinners of whom I am foremost.
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And He rose from the dead that we may have believed in Him and have life in Him.
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The word gospel in Greek, euangelion, from which we get the word evangelize.
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It's really just a technical term in Greek for good news.
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It was originally used as a term in relationship to battles.
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In some records of the past, there would be occasions when a certain city would fight against another city.
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It was very common in Greece for the country to be divided up into these city-states.
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And each city-state would maintain its own army.
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And occasionally they would go to battle.
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There would be these great battles.
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And everyone in the city would wait to hear the news of what had happened on the battlefield.
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The armies would ride out and they would go to battle.
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And everyone in the city would wait with this eager anticipation to find out who it was they were going to pay homage to at the end of this battle.
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No Twitter. No Instagram. There was no way for this to be updated except by messengers.
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And men would be sent back to the city.
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Runners would be sent back to the city to declare what had happened.
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This was this euangelion, the proclaimers of good news.
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This person would come running from the battlefield declaring,
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We have won.
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This is that word. Gospel.
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That we're talking about.
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The good news. The good news of victory over our enemy.
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The news of victory over sin.
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This is the reference Paul makes when he speaks of the gospel preached in Romans 10.15.
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When he quotes from Isaiah 52.7, he says,
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How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.
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He's saying those runners who come and declare victory over sin.
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And to fully appreciate that citation from Romans 10.15, let me read to you Isaiah 52.7.
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How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.
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Who publishes peace.
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Who brings good news of happiness.
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Who publishes salvation.
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Who says to Zion,
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Your God reigns.
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This is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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And this is the way in which Paul begins his letter to the Colossian believers.
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So let's notice together five things about the gospel.
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Number one.
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The gospel gives reason for thanksgiving.
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Verse 3.
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Paul writes,
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We assume that this is Paul and Timothy as the salutation notes for us.
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We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.
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We give proper thanksgiving.
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We give thanks to the proper source of who you are in Christ.
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If my wife, Samantha, she hates it when I call her that, Sam, but for you guests, I want you to know,
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my wife's name is Samantha, gave me a present for my birthday.
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It wouldn't be proper for me to thank one of my sons for the gift.
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Wouldn't be proper, would it?
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Caden, thank you so much for this wonderful gift.
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If Sam gave me the gift, it's proper for me to thank Sam for the gift.
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However, when one of my sons gives me a gift for my birthday, it's proper, after thanking them, to thank my wife,
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who is the real source of said gift.
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The one who did all the hard work to actually load up boys and take them to a store and keep them from destroying things.
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It's proper for us to ascribe thanksgiving to the proper source, which is what Paul does here.
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We always thank God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.
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God was and is the source of the church.
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He was and is the source of the church.
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This is further driven in the last half of verse 6 of Colossians 1.
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Since the day you heard it, being the gospel, and understood the grace of God in truth.
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This gift given to us by God.
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The grace of God in truth.
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The gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Paul writes in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9,
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For by grace you have been saved through faith.
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And this is not your own doing.
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It is the gift of God.
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Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
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And verse 9 is so very important for us to understand what Paul is trying to explain in verse 8.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith.
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And this is not your own doing.
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Many people want to say that Paul is referring to the grace given there.
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I would argue that he's referring to the faith.
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Because he goes on to say it's not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
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It is fully of God.
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Our salvation is monergistic.
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God himself acts upon us.
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You can rearrange these things to say that we're saved by grace through the gift of God,
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which is faith, and not as a result of our works.
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It's highly debated in churches these days.
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By men that I think are worth listening to.
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But let me say to you,
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that the changing of our hearts happens before we place faith in Jesus Christ.
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That regeneration precedes faith in Christ.
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That God works in us a new heart so that we can believe.
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And then we are justified by that faith.
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All of this being a work of grace in our lives.
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Regeneration, faith, justification, sanctification, glorification.
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Regeneration precedes faith.
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Happens in a moment.
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I don't really want to parse it all out.
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It doesn't really matter.
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Right?
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But we are incapable.
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We cannot do good things.
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We cannot be righteous.
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And faith would certainly be included in that category unless we are changed.
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So it's fully of God.
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Regeneration precedes faith.
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We must give Him much praise for the salvation of the Colossian church and for our own.
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All of the glory.
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All of the honor is ascribed to Him.
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It all belongs to Him and the praise of His name.
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So that's number one.
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The Gospel gives reason for thanksgiving.
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To the proper place.
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To God the Father.
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Secondly, the Gospel is believed by faith.
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First part of verse 4.
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Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.
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And what Paul is talking about here is a saving faith.
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Not just a mental assent to something.
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Not just believing and saying with your mind,
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Yeah, that makes sense.
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Jesus is the Son of God and came and died for our sins.
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But a saving faith.
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A faith that is preceded by regeneration.
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A faith that has as its object the person and work of Jesus Christ.
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There are many people of faith these days.
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Saving faith is faith that has as its object the person and work of Jesus Christ.
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Charles Spurgeon tells a story about two men in a boat who are being swept towards a waterfall
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and their certain death.
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And at the same time, one is thrown a rope from shore by a group of men working to save him.
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And the other sees a log floating by.
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And one jumps onto the log.
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The other takes hold of the rope.
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And the point of the story is that the object must be the correct object in order to save us.
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The man jumping onto the log did himself no service.
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He just got really wet before he went over the waterfall.
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The man who held the rope was saved because the object was right and it was proper.
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Charles Spurgeon again, and I'm going to throw a little addition to this quote in for you for free
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because it's very good.
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He said,
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So an encouragement to you to read Puritans, the old dead guys.
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As of them, he says, the old writers tell you, right?
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So the Puritans say that faith is made up of three things.
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First, knowledge.
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Then, assent.
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And then what they call affiance or the laying hold of the knowledge to which we give assent
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and making it our own by trusting in it.
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So first, we must know something.
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The gospel must be preached to us.
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We must understand the state of our sin, separation from God, the need of a Savior.
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We must understand that Jesus Christ is that Savior.
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We must have some knowledge of double imputation.
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That He takes away our sin and that He gives to us His righteousness.
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That that is what is required before God.
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We must have some knowledge of that.
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And then we must have some belief that it's true.
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But more than that, we must trust in it.
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We must take it up into ourselves.
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We must say, this is a truth that belongs to me.
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That I am saved by this great truth.
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So knowledge and belief and trust.
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How do you know if you have a saving faith?
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This is a question that we must ask as American Christians, particularly those who live and likely grew up in the Southeast.
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Because we live in a place where so many, and I will use my quote unquote fingers, Christian leaders peddle cheap grace.
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They would have you many places this morning.
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And this is tragic and saddening.
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Many places this morning, they would say to somebody, if you doubt that you were a Christian,
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let me draw your mind back to the day in which you made a decision.
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The day in which you walked an aisle.
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Remember the card you filled out.
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Flip to the front of your copy of God's Word.
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Remember where you wrote down the date.
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Some activity on your part that saved you from the wrath to come.
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And certainly, many people have been saved by such activity.
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There was, I shouldn't say by activity.
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They were saved in the midst of such activity.
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That God worked in that and used it to save them.
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But it is not the surety of your salvation.
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You've heard me say before, the fact that you have a birth date and you know the date
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does not prove to you that you're alive.
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You know that you're alive because you experience life.
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You know that you're alive and breathing and that you're working out activity.
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And the same is true of the Christian.
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Our work must reflect the fact that we are saved.
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Our work does not earn us salvation.
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We're not found righteous because of the things that we do,
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but we will live in righteousness because of who we are.
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It's a great monergistic work of God on our behalf.
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Now our sanctification, the continuing perfection of us being synergistic,
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we have a part to play in it.
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An activity to be carried out.
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The great marker of Christian maturity is obedience.
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I know people who have been Christians for decades
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who don't show the maturity that some young believers do
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because those young believers are obedient with what they know.
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So many of us are so top heavy.
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We know so much and do so little with it.
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The great marker of Christian maturity is obedience.
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However, obedience is the marker of any truly regenerative individual's life.
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And there are some who call this lordship theology,
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although those who believe this to be true would never call it that,
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and they condemn it as heresy.
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They think it is a works-based theology.
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And beloved, hear me.
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I never want to cast into doubt your salvation unless it's necessary that I do so.
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I don't want you to come in here every Sunday and wonder leaving.
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Am I truly saved?
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Is my life progressing in holiness the way it ought to be?
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I just don't know.
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I want you to have surety.
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I want you to hold tight to it.
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I want you to join with me even though I still sin,
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to be able to stand up under the condemnation,
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knowing that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
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I want you to experience the seal of the Spirit on your life,
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where you can with confidence go before God,
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knowing that you are clothed in Christ's righteousness.
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But I also do not want you to be led astray.
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I tend to be a half-glass-empty kind of guy,
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and I really don't like that about myself,
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and I try not to be.
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I don't want to believe what I'm about to say,
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but I think that most of the people sitting in churches in the southeast this morning
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think they're Christians,
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and they are not.
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I think that they are tares,
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and they're going to be weeded out and thrown into the fire one day
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because of this cheap grace idea
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that simply there's some assent given,
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some word spoken,
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and now you're a Christian.
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Rather than seeing that our lives must be progressing in holiness
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to see that we're saved.
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Test yourself.
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Examine to make sure you're in the faith.
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1 John 5, 1-3.
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John says,
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Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,
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and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.
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Okay, so conveniently, many people stop there.
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Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.
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But let me tell you that the belief is not simply some mental cognition to the facts,
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but rather a belief that changes who you are.
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It's that kind of belief.
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It's a trusted belief.
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It's a thing that so defines who you are that you live differently.
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The last half of that verse 1 says,
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And everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.
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Verse 2,
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By this we know that we love the children of God,
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when we love God and obey His commandments.
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For this is the love of God,
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that we keep His commandments,
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and His commandments are not burdensome.
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This is the proof of what we have said has happened in our lives,
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that we begin to live as we should.
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Not perfectly.
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Don't hear me saying that.
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I still am in need of grace.
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Praise God,
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I can trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ on my behalf.
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W.E. Vine, in his book,
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The Expositional Dictionary of New Testament Words,
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wrote,
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There is no evidence in your life
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that you have a saving faith.
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Let me plead with you this morning to repent and believe.
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Put down your pride.
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I do not care how long you've said you're a Christian
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and you're suddenly realizing that you're not.
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Repent and believe.
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Your eternal soul is at stake here.
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Do not let the cheap grace peddlers lead you astray.
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The Gospel comes by faith,
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by saving faith.
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Thirdly,
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we see this in the first part of verse 5,
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the Gospel gives hope
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because of the promise of heaven.
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The text reads,
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Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.
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The hope of heaven causes us to live for the eternal
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and not to be caught up in the trivial nature of the temporal.
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Just in case you're trying to write that down,
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I'll say it one more time.
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The hope of heaven causes us to live for the eternal
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and to not be caught up in the trivial nature of the temporal.
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It fuels the daily dying that is necessary to follow our risen Lord.
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Remember Mark chapter 8,
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as we just finished studying through Mark.
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If we want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ,
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we're going to have to take up our cross and follow Him.
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We're going to have to die to the things that we want,
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our self-direction,
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in order to follow Him.
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And the hope of heaven is the great charge we need for that.
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That we know that one day we will eternally live with Him forever.
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We're living for the eternal, not for the temporal.
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There's a great example of that in Hebrews chapter 11.
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I invite you to turn there with me to verse 24.
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Hebrews 11 verse 24.
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Okay, I'm going to rock.
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You'll get there.
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Ready?
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Verse 24.
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By faith, Moses, when he was grown up,
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refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
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You remember the story Moses put into a basket,
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found by Pharaoh's daughter,
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adopted as a son.
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Verse 25.
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Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God
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than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
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The writer of Hebrews giving his commentary
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on what's going on with Moses.
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Instead, going and being part of the Jewish people
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rather than living in the highest place of luxury,
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having everything that his flesh could have possibly desired.
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The commentary of the writer of Hebrews says
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the fleeting pleasures of sin.
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Certainly pleasurable, but passing.
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Verse 26.
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He considered, and I love this,
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he considered the reproach of Christ.
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The reproach of Christ.
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Not that he knew who Jesus was,
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but this writer of Hebrews sees that
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all of the suffering of all God's people
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was part of the world's condemnation
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and rejection of the Savior.
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He considered the reproach of Christ
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greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt,
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for he was looking to the reward.
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The eternal reward.
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Not to the temporal, but to the eternal.
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Verse 27.
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By faith he left Egypt,
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not being afraid of the anger of the king,
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for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
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Rather than worshiping the king of Egypt,
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Pharaoh, he worshiped God.
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God.
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Jim Elliot is cited in Elizabeth Elliot's
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shadow of the Almighty as saying,
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he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep
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to gain what he cannot lose.
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Beloved, so many of us
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who claim the name of Christ
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live for the temporal.
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We get so wrapped up into the day-to-day
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fleeting pleasure of sin.
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The Gospel gives us hope
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because of the promise of heaven.
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It changes the way in which we live.
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Fourthly, last part of verse 4,
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the Gospel produces love.
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The Gospel produces love.
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The text reads,
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the love that you have for all the saints
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is one of the things that Paul is thanking God for.
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Why is he thanking God for it?
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Because it's a supernatural love.
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Notice verse 8.
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That Epaphras has made known to us
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your love in the Spirit.
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One of the fruits of the Spirit being love
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has been produced in them
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because of the work of God
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on their behalf.
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And we see here in our text today
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the triad of Christian virtues.
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Faith, hope, and love.
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1 Corinthians 13.
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So now, faith, hope, and love
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abide these three,
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but at the greatest of these
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is love.
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You see that also in 1 Thessalonians 1.3
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and 1 Thessalonians 5.8.
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The great virtue of Christian love.
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Let me connect for you
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that Christian love
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produces Christian unity.
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They're thanking God
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for the love that they have
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for one another.
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This week,
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if you're part of a community outreach group,
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you studied the beginning
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of Philippians 2.
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You draw your attention
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to verses 2 and 3.
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Paul says,
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Complete my joy
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by being of the same mind,
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having the same love,
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being in full accord
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and of one mind.
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Do nothing from selfish ambition
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or conceit,
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but in humility,
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count others
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more significant than yourselves.
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This is the definition of love.
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That you seek the good of others
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before your own good.
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John 17.
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I'll get you to turn there with me.
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John 17.
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I'll begin reading in verse 20.
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This is part of
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Jesus' prayer
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that has become known
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as the High Priestly Prayer.
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I want you to note
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four verses of it.
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John 17,
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verses 20-23.
27:28
And he prays,
27:29
I do not ask for these only,
27:31
he's talking about the apostles,
27:33
but also for those
27:34
who will believe in me
27:35
through their word.
27:37
Now, us.
27:38
This is his prayer
27:39
for all of us.
27:40
Those of us who claim
27:41
to follow Christ.
27:42
Verse 21,
27:43
that they may all be one.
27:47
Just as you,
27:48
Father,
27:49
are in me
27:49
and I in you,
27:50
they also may be in us.
27:53
So that the world may believe
27:55
that you have sent me.
27:57
The glory that you have given me,
27:58
I have given to them.
28:00
That they may be one
28:01
even as we are one.
28:03
I in them
28:04
and you in me.
28:05
That they may become
28:06
perfectly one.
28:08
So that the world may know
28:09
that you sent me
28:10
and love them
28:11
even as you loved me.
28:13
Notice the repetition
28:14
that's going on there.
28:15
Verse 21,
28:16
that they may be one.
28:18
Verse 22,
28:19
they may be one.
28:20
Verse 23,
28:21
that they may become
28:21
perfectly one.
28:23
Jesus prays that we
28:24
will be unified.
28:26
Why?
28:28
So that the world will know
28:29
that Jesus is the Christ
28:30
and that we are loved
28:31
by God
28:32
through Him.
28:33
Note again,
28:34
the repetition.
28:35
Verse 21,
28:35
so that the world may believe
28:36
that you have sent me.
28:37
In verse 23,
28:39
so that the world may know
28:40
that you sent me
28:41
and love them
28:41
even as you loved me.
28:44
It's meant to be a display
28:46
of the way in which
28:48
God loves us
28:50
by the way we love
28:51
one another.
28:53
Jesus said in John 13, 35,
28:56
by this,
28:57
all people will know
28:58
that you are my disciples
28:59
if you have love
29:00
for one another.
29:02
This is the way
29:03
that the world is supposed
29:04
to look at us
29:05
and say,
29:06
what a peculiar people
29:08
set apart for God.
29:09
Look at the way
29:10
they love each other.
29:12
Not by signs
29:13
or big fancy buildings
29:15
or programs
29:16
or kitschy t-shirts
29:17
or cool websites.
29:20
Neat Facebook posts.
29:22
By our love
29:23
for one another.
29:25
This is the defining
29:27
characteristic
29:28
of Christians together
29:29
and how the world
29:30
looks at us
29:31
and knows we belong
29:33
to God.
29:35
John writes
29:36
in 1 John 4, 7 and 8,
29:39
Beloved,
29:40
let us love one another
29:41
for love is from God
29:43
and whoever loves
29:43
has been born of God
29:44
and knows God.
29:47
Anyone who does not love
29:48
does not know God
29:50
because God is love.
29:54
How do we love one another?
29:56
Paul writes in Galatians 6, 2,
29:57
bear one another's burdens
29:59
and so fulfill
30:01
the law of Christ.
30:03
He's talking about
30:04
this commandment
30:05
that Jesus has given
30:06
that we should love
30:07
one another.
30:09
That we bear
30:09
one another's burdens.
30:12
And beloved,
30:13
I will tell you
30:13
that in most churches,
30:14
including our own,
30:16
there are many,
30:17
many people
30:17
who work
30:18
to bear the burdens
30:19
of others.
30:19
But that number
30:20
is far too few.
30:23
And those people
30:24
are so very burdened
30:25
by everybody else's burdens.
30:28
That they often flame out
30:29
very quick.
30:31
They get consumed.
30:33
They have to take
30:33
massive breaks
30:35
in order to be replenished
30:36
so that they can get back
30:37
and bear burdens
30:38
once again.
30:40
There are single individuals
30:41
bearing the burdens
30:42
of many.
30:44
But the beautiful picture
30:45
is that if we're all
30:45
bearing one another's burdens,
30:47
the load gets incredibly light.
30:50
That we pick up the pieces
30:52
of one another
30:53
and function as a body together
30:55
that way.
30:56
That means
30:57
that you have
30:58
a part to play.
30:59
Whether you're part
30:59
of this church
31:00
or another
31:01
and you're just a guest
31:02
here today.
31:03
That you have a part
31:04
to play.
31:05
You have a ministry
31:06
in the church.
31:09
The church growth gurus
31:11
say that it's incredibly
31:12
important to plug someone in
31:14
to give them a job
31:16
within the first six months
31:17
of them coming
31:18
to a church.
31:20
Right?
31:21
You can't know
31:21
somebody's character
31:22
in six months.
31:23
That's insanity.
31:24
But this is what
31:25
so many are doing
31:26
so that people feel
31:28
that they belong
31:28
rather than saying to them
31:30
you have a ministry.
31:32
You have a ministry.
31:33
It's to one another.
31:35
This means that it's not okay
31:36
just to show up
31:37
on a Sunday morning.
31:39
You can't just walk in
31:40
at 1025,
31:42
1035,
31:43
sit down
31:44
and when we're done
31:45
get up and walk
31:46
right back out.
31:47
I know
31:47
that sometimes
31:48
that's what has to happen
31:50
on a Sunday.
31:50
I know the amount
31:52
of time it takes
31:53
to invest
31:54
in people
31:54
and to get to know people
31:56
you have to do the work.
31:58
You have to.
31:58
You have to find times
32:00
and opportunities
32:01
to get with
32:02
the people of God
32:03
so that you can
32:04
display
32:05
love.
32:07
It's of vital importance
32:09
in your service
32:09
to the church
32:10
and I guarantee you
32:11
that as you do so
32:12
your burdens
32:13
will be bore
32:14
as well.
32:15
You will also be
32:16
loved.
32:18
It's a work.
32:19
It is hard.
32:21
It has been so many years
32:22
since I ever went
32:23
and fellowshiped
32:24
with a new group
32:25
of people.
32:26
I can remember
32:26
faintly,
32:27
it's a dim light
32:28
in my mind
32:29
how strange
32:29
and awkward it is
32:30
to walk into a group
32:31
of people
32:31
that you don't know.
32:32
I know it's hard.
32:34
I know it's hard.
32:35
Do the work.
32:37
Put in the time.
32:38
Show up to the things
32:39
that we're doing.
32:41
We have meetings
32:42
that are almost exclusively
32:44
for the opportunity
32:45
to be able to love
32:45
each other
32:46
in this way.
32:49
So what are some
32:50
practical ways
32:51
you can bear
32:52
another's burdens?
32:54
Just a few
32:54
that popped in my mind.
32:56
Help a brother move.
32:58
Moving out
32:58
at the end of the semester.
33:00
Pick up a couple of boxes.
33:02
Be available for a sister
33:03
at any hour of the night
33:04
or stay up late
33:06
in prayer
33:06
for someone.
33:09
Show up to help
33:10
with a project
33:11
on the property
33:12
here.
33:14
minister alongside
33:16
someone.
33:18
Service that somebody
33:19
is doing in the community.
33:20
Join them in that work.
33:22
Partner with them in it.
33:24
Give up your
33:25
free time
33:26
for the sake
33:27
of the kingdom.
33:30
College students,
33:30
let me speak directly
33:31
to you for a moment.
33:32
I know that you feel
33:33
busy.
33:34
That's a real feeling
33:35
that you're having.
33:36
I don't want to totally
33:37
negate the feeling
33:38
that you're having.
33:38
I know.
33:39
It is finals week.
33:40
This is maybe
33:41
the only week
33:42
you really have an excuse.
33:43
I know that the burden
33:45
of it is laid
33:46
on your shoulders
33:46
and you feel so busy.
33:48
Start getting into
33:49
healthy church habits
33:50
now.
33:51
Serving others.
33:52
Giving of your time
33:53
because you only
33:54
get busier.
33:56
I don't really
33:58
even know
33:58
the word
33:59
free time.
34:00
Like what
34:01
what is this thing
34:02
free time?
34:07
Invest in the kingdom.
34:08
Invest in eternal things.
34:10
And listen,
34:11
I'm not saying
34:11
that you can't
34:11
have hobbies
34:12
and that it's not
34:13
good and healthy
34:14
to unplug
34:14
from things sometimes
34:15
and just have
34:16
some fun.
34:18
Sam and I
34:18
are taking a vacation
34:19
this summer.
34:20
We're planning
34:20
on taking the boys
34:21
on our first
34:21
canoe camping trip.
34:23
This is a good thing.
34:24
Good for our family
34:25
to be together.
34:25
Good for me
34:26
to be far,
34:27
far away
34:27
from a cell phone
34:28
signal.
34:29
This has value.
34:30
But I can tell you
34:31
this,
34:32
that at the end
34:32
of my life
34:33
I'm not going
34:33
to look back
34:34
on my life
34:34
and wish
34:35
that I had
34:35
done more
34:36
whitewater paddling
34:38
or rock climbing
34:40
or played more
34:41
golf.
34:42
I would never
34:42
do that.
34:43
Or played more
34:46
video games.
34:48
I think that most
34:49
of us are going
34:49
to look back
34:50
on our lives
34:50
and say,
34:51
look at the time
34:52
that I wasted.
34:54
I flittered it away
34:55
on nothing
34:56
rather than investing
34:57
in my future.
35:00
You have so much
35:01
that you can give
35:02
to one another.
35:04
How can you know
35:05
someone's burdens?
35:08
Ask.
35:11
Everybody's hurting
35:12
in some way
35:13
at some time.
35:14
Ask.
35:15
And be willing
35:15
to hear the answer.
35:17
Ask somebody
35:18
how they're doing
35:19
and actually mean it.
35:20
When somebody says,
35:21
I'm not doing that well,
35:23
say,
35:23
tell me about it.
35:24
I wasn't just being cordial.
35:25
I really want to know.
35:26
How are you doing?
35:27
And how can I help
35:28
you bear up
35:29
when things aren't going
35:31
that well
35:32
in your life?
35:33
This all means
35:34
that relationships
35:35
in the church matter.
35:37
That the church
35:37
was meant to be relational.
35:40
It's about people
35:41
and not programs.
35:44
Programs don't matter
35:45
at all
35:46
if they're not helping
35:47
people be drawn together
35:49
in love
35:49
for one another.
35:51
They're pointless.
35:53
The relationships
35:54
matter.
35:55
We do community
35:56
outreach groups
35:57
as a way to develop
35:58
and to build
35:59
those things.
36:00
I've been visiting
36:00
around those groups
36:02
and I will tell you
36:03
there are so many
36:03
good, healthy things
36:04
happening
36:05
in what we're calling
36:06
our COGS.
36:07
Fantastic things
36:08
that are happening
36:08
but there's so much
36:10
more even still.
36:12
In so many ways still
36:13
they're program
36:15
and not people driven.
36:18
We need to be bonded
36:18
together.
36:19
We need to be,
36:20
as I love Kyle Webb
36:21
says so often,
36:22
a faith family.
36:24
Connected that way
36:25
because we're connected
36:26
by the blood
36:28
of Jesus Christ.
36:30
The world should see
36:30
the gospel
36:31
in the way
36:31
that we love each other.
36:32
If we have a hope
36:34
that produces love
36:35
then people should see it
36:36
and they should want
36:38
to understand it.
36:40
Peter exhorts
36:41
in 1 Peter 3.15
36:42
to always be prepared
36:44
to make a defense
36:46
to anyone who asks you
36:47
for a reason
36:48
for the hope
36:49
that is in you.
36:51
His suggestion here
36:52
is that if you are living
36:54
as believers ought to live,
36:55
people are going to ask you
36:57
about the hope
36:58
that you have.
36:59
What is this thing
37:01
that has made you
37:02
so different
37:02
and changed you?
37:04
And he's suggesting
37:05
that you have an answer
37:05
for that.
37:06
That you be ready
37:06
to give an answer
37:07
to such a question.
37:10
How many of us
37:11
are being asked
37:11
that question?
37:14
Many of us struggle
37:15
in evangelism
37:16
because we are peddling
37:18
a product
37:19
that really hasn't worked
37:21
for us.
37:23
There's not all
37:24
that much different
37:25
about who we are.
37:27
There's a chance
37:27
there's nothing different
37:28
about who you are.
37:31
We need to throw ourselves
37:33
into Christian love
37:34
for one another.
37:36
This will overflow
37:37
in our evangelistic efforts.
37:40
Look,
37:41
briefly,
37:41
I'm going to read this
37:42
to you fast.
37:43
The early church,
37:44
Acts 2,
37:44
42-47,
37:46
and they devoted themselves
37:47
to the apostles' teaching
37:47
and the fellowship,
37:49
to the breaking of bread
37:50
and the prayers,
37:51
and awe came upon every soul
37:52
and many wonders
37:53
and signs were being done
37:54
through the apostles.
37:55
And all who believed
37:56
were together
37:57
and had all things in common.
37:58
And they were selling
37:59
their possessions
38:00
and belongings
38:00
and distributing the proceeds
38:02
to all as any had need.
38:03
And day by day,
38:04
attending the temple together
38:05
and breaking bread
38:06
in their homes,
38:06
they received their food
38:07
with glad and generous hearts,
38:09
praising God
38:10
and having favor
38:11
with all the people.
38:12
Here they are doing
38:12
all this activity together.
38:14
This is early church.
38:15
Everything they're doing
38:15
is about being together
38:17
and doing things together.
38:18
Right?
38:19
Loving each other
38:20
the way believers
38:20
ought to love each other.
38:21
And then it's finished off.
38:23
Verse 47,
38:24
the Lord added to their number
38:25
day by day
38:26
those who were being saved.
38:28
It was being put on display
38:30
so that people were attracted to it
38:33
or repelled by it.
38:34
That'll happen as well.
38:35
But many, many
38:36
were attracted to it.
38:38
If you're not living
38:39
in a relationship
38:40
with the church,
38:42
begin.
38:43
Repent.
38:44
Believe.
38:44
It's time to start.
38:45
If you are,
38:46
just keep it up.
38:48
Keep plugging away at it.
38:49
I know that it's not easy.
38:52
The toughest thing
38:53
about Christianity
38:55
are Christians.
38:56
We're people.
38:58
We're a mess.
38:59
Right?
39:00
In great need of grace.
39:02
Even though we've been
39:03
delivered from sin,
39:05
our flesh still exists.
39:06
There's a battle going on
39:07
within all of us.
39:09
Praise God
39:10
that the victory
39:10
has been completed
39:11
and the good news
39:12
has conquered.
39:14
We need one another
39:15
to work out
39:17
our sanctification.
39:20
So that was number four.
39:22
Number five.
39:22
I'm almost done.
39:24
Number five.
39:25
Notice in the first part
39:26
of verse six.
39:29
The gospel has
39:30
and is
39:31
completing its task.
39:36
Paul says,
39:36
this gospel truth
39:37
which has come to you
39:38
as indeed in the whole world
39:40
it is bearing fruit
39:41
and increasing.
39:42
Paul is referring to
39:43
the known world,
39:44
the beyond,
39:46
the Jewish population,
39:48
the whole world
39:49
is what he's referring to
39:50
here.
39:52
It's bearing fruit.
39:53
It's increasing.
39:54
It's doing the thing
39:55
that it's set out
39:56
to accomplish.
39:58
God is ultimately
39:59
the source
40:00
of the power
40:01
in the gospel.
40:03
And he is accomplishing
40:04
his will
40:04
and his purpose.
40:06
Jesus says in Matthew 16, 18,
40:08
I will build my church
40:10
and the gates of hell
40:12
shall not prevail against it.
40:14
The gospel makes advance
40:16
in the world.
40:17
We don't hold back hell.
40:19
Hell shudders
40:20
in front of the gospel.
40:23
The gospel is going to overwhelm
40:24
and knock down
40:26
hell
40:27
and its dominion.
40:29
I will build my church
40:30
and the gates of hell
40:30
shall not prevail against it.
40:33
The gospel has and is
40:34
completing its task.
40:37
But the gospel has and is
40:39
completing its task
40:40
through the work
40:42
of faithful ministers.
40:45
God uses us
40:46
as his means
40:48
to accomplish
40:49
his ends.
40:50
Verse 7 and 8.
40:52
Just as you learned it
40:53
from Epaphras,
40:55
our beloved fellow servant.
40:57
He is a faithful minister
40:58
of Christ
40:58
on your behalf
40:59
and has made known to us
41:01
your love
41:02
in the Spirit.
41:03
The gospel has and is
41:04
completing its task
41:05
through the work
41:06
of faithful ministers.
41:09
If you were here last week,
41:10
you've heard this.
41:11
If you weren't,
41:12
Paul did not begin
41:13
the church in Colossae.
41:15
It was started by
41:16
a man named Epaphras
41:18
who likely had traveled
41:19
to Ephesus
41:20
some 120 miles to the west,
41:22
had heard the gospel,
41:23
became a believer,
41:25
and as a disciple
41:26
of Jesus Christ should,
41:28
he went back
41:29
and began to preach
41:30
the gospel
41:31
and establish disciples
41:32
which led to a church,
41:35
a gathering of God's people.
41:37
people.
41:39
Earlier I referenced
41:40
the words of Paul
41:41
in Romans 15
41:42
where he says,
41:43
citing Isaiah 52.7,
41:45
how beautiful are the feet
41:46
of those who preach
41:47
the good news.
41:49
Just before this,
41:50
he writes in Romans 10.14
41:52
and the beginning of verse 15,
41:54
hear the rest of that.
41:57
How then will they call on Him
42:00
in whom they have not believed?
42:03
And how are they to believe
42:04
in Him of whom
42:05
they have never heard?
42:08
And how are they to hear
42:09
without someone preaching?
42:12
And how are they to preach
42:13
unless they are sent?
42:16
And then he says,
42:17
how beautiful are the feet
42:17
of those who preach
42:18
the good news.
42:20
There's a real practicality
42:22
to the way in which
42:23
people come to saving faith
42:24
in Jesus Christ.
42:25
They must hear
42:26
the gospel of Jesus Christ
42:28
preached.
42:30
There are stories
42:31
all over the world right now
42:32
about people having visions
42:33
of Jesus and coming to faith
42:35
in Jesus Christ.
42:36
Don't believe it for a minute.
42:38
Maybe some of those things
42:39
are happening
42:40
and leading those individuals
42:41
to ask questions
42:43
of those who can preach
42:44
the gospel to them.
42:45
But the way that the gospel
42:47
of Jesus Christ
42:47
comes to the minds
42:49
and hearts of individuals
42:50
is through the preaching
42:52
of His Word.
42:55
God is raising up an army
42:57
for that very purpose.
42:59
Beloved, that is the purpose
43:00
of our church
43:02
and the purpose
43:03
of every individual in it.
43:05
The primary way
43:07
in which we glorify God
43:08
is by the making
43:09
of disciples.
43:11
This includes so much
43:12
about our Christian living.
43:14
But this is the drive
43:15
and the point.
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Believers in Jesus Christ
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bring about,
43:19
work toward,
43:20
strive for faith
43:22
in other people.
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Ultimately and finally,
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this is all a work of God.
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While we recognize,
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along with Paul and Timothy,
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that God was the ultimate source
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of the Colossian church,
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we must also recognize
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that He graciously involved
43:39
Epaphras in that process.
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Not because God is somehow
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incapable apart from us.
43:47
That God can't accomplish
43:48
exactly what God
43:49
sets out to accomplish.
43:50
He did not need Epaphras,
43:53
but He loved him.
43:54
And because He loved him,
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He included him
43:56
in the great work
43:57
of the gospel advancement
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in the world.
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The same is true of us.
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He doesn't need you,
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but He wants you.
44:05
He wants to bless you
44:06
by involving you
44:08
in His kingdom advancement.
44:09
We get to experience
44:10
who God is
44:13
as we go about the work
44:14
of making disciples.
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You want to know why
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many of you are not growing
44:18
in your faith?
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It's because you're not
44:19
actively working out
44:20
the things God
44:20
has told you to do.
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You're not actually seeing Him.
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You're not beholding Him
44:24
as He works in the world.
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I would strongly suggest
44:27
that you do so.
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It will bless you
44:29
beyond measure
44:30
to see that God
44:32
changes people.
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It will encourage you
44:35
that He can still
44:35
change you.
44:38
You sometimes feel
44:38
trapped in your sin.
44:39
It could be because
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you're not seeing God
44:41
as work in other individuals.
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Paul later in his letter
44:46
to the Colossians
44:46
speaks of making the gospel
44:48
fully known to the Gentiles.
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And then he says
44:51
in chapter 1, verse 29,
44:53
For this I toil.
44:54
For this I labor.
44:56
I work hard.
44:57
Struggling with all
44:59
His energy
45:00
that He powerfully
45:02
works within me.
45:05
The great promise
45:06
of Matthew 28, 18-20
45:08
which is known
45:10
as the Great Commission.
45:12
Jesus came and said to them,
45:14
All authority in heaven
45:15
and on earth
45:15
has been given to Me.
45:17
Go therefore
45:18
and make disciples
45:19
of all nations,
45:20
baptizing them
45:20
in the name of the Father
45:21
and of the Son
45:22
and of the Holy Spirit,
45:23
teaching them to observe
45:24
all that I have commanded you.
45:26
And behold,
45:27
I am with you always
45:28
to the end of the age.
45:31
Note
45:31
that the command
45:33
to make disciples
45:34
is incapped
45:36
by a statement of power
45:38
and by a promise.
45:41
Jesus says,
45:42
All authority
45:43
that doesn't exclude anything.
45:45
All authority
45:45
in heaven and on earth
45:46
has been given to Me.
45:48
I have a people
45:49
that I have redeemed
45:51
for myself.
45:52
My completed work
45:53
on the cross
45:53
has been accomplished.
45:55
There is a people
45:55
that I am seeking
45:56
in the world.
45:57
So,
45:57
go find them.
45:59
I have all authority.
46:00
It's all been given to me.
46:01
All dominion belongs to me.
46:03
And there's a purpose
46:04
I'm going to work out
46:04
in the life
46:05
of your church
46:06
and in you
46:07
as an individual.
46:08
So go
46:08
and make disciples.
46:09
and in the promise
46:12
that He will be with us
46:15
to the end of the age.
46:18
Beloved,
46:18
we have nothing
46:19
to fear
46:20
in advancing
46:21
the good news
46:23
of the Gospel
46:24
of Jesus Christ.
46:25
As God is for us,
46:27
who can be
46:28
against us?
46:31
And so,
46:32
in summary,
46:33
I just remind you
46:34
once again,
46:35
the Gospel gives
46:36
reason for thanksgiving.
46:38
The Gospel is believed
46:40
by saving faith.
46:44
The Gospel gives hope
46:45
because of the promise
46:46
of heaven.
46:49
The Gospel produces love.
46:53
And the Gospel has
46:56
and is completing its task
46:59
through the work
47:00
of faithful ministers.
47:03
Let's pray together.