Colossians 1:6

The book of Colossians chapter 1 and verses 3 to 6. Our text of course this morning will be on verse 6. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, which he heard before in the word of the truth of the Christ, gospel, which has come unto you as it is in all the world, bringing forth fruit as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. May God bless to us the reading of His holy and sacred word this morning. Many years ago there was a gardener who asked permission of his master, to sleep in the future in a stable. He explained that there was no possibility of him sleeping in the room behind the greenhouse. He said there were nightingales there which do nothing but guggle, keep up a noise all through the night, he said. Some people hear nightingale singing and they think it’s sweet and soothing to them, but the gardener didn’t like the bird. words sound and so it was annoyance to him. Doubtless the sound of the gospel is of no value for many people. They think it’s foolishness. How can the sweet and soothing sound of the gospel be appreciated by those with a carnal mind? But we find people are often annoyed by the gospel and don’t want to hear it. But the belief. believer sees great value in it. It is a sweet song to him or to her. Paul’s soul is certainly filled with love and admiration for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the heavenly doctrine that’s wrapped up in it. And so the apostle celebrates the gospel in as much as it is the means of producing hope in these Colossians and also in your heart and mine as well. Let me begin by saying that you should take note here of the proclamation of the gospel. Now notice it is a personal proclamation for he says, which has come unto you. It’s a God sent gospel. For the Colossians had not come to the the gospel, but the gospel had come to them. When you’re sick, you’re usually the one that seeks out the physician and pay the cost of any medication or any prescription that he prescribes. But the heavenly physician is the one that seeks out the spiritually sick, and he provides the medicine of the gospel and no charge will cost whatsoever. As the scripture says in Isaiah 65, 1, I am found of them who sought me not. The son of man is common to seek and to save that which was lost. In the book of Isaiah chapter 6, you read about the prophet’s conversion. And the book chapter opens with a picture of God as king sitting on the throne. high and lifted up. It’s really a picture of Christ that he sees. And the seraphim are singing holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah sees himself as unclean, and the Lord cleanses him of his sin, and he’s purged of it all. And then he hears a voice from the throne, from the Lord. Whom shall I send, and who will go for me or for us? in this case. And God is seeking someone to send to the nation of Israel, to proclaim his message. The Israelites certainly were not seeking out the Lord, but the Lord was going to send his message to them. And so Isaiah says, here am I, send me. And Isaiah becomes the prophet, bringing the message of God to the people. This is ever the case. It’s always the shepherd that seeks out the sheep. And this is why Barnabas and Paul were sent out as missionaries throughout the Roman Empire. Remember in Acts chapter 13 that the Holy Spirit said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And so they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed, the Bible tells us. God hasn’t elect people. God sends out the gospel to them in order to bring them to salvation in Christ. This should be a matter of thanksgiving to God. God sent his gospel to you. It didn’t come to you by chance. God sent it. And the person who witnessed to you, the person who brought you the gospel, God sent that person with that message that you might be sent. So it’s a God-sent gospel. It’s a sovereignly sent gospel. It becomes exceedingly apparent that the gospel certainly isn’t sent to people who are worthy of hearing it. The scripture knows nothing about people of natural disposition who are good, and therefore God sends them the light of the gospel. No, the very opposite is true. The gospel came to these heathen Colossians who were under the power of darkness, as verse 13 indicates. Under the power of sin and Satan, they were far off from God, wedded to their idols, worshipping demons, lawbreakers, sexually impure, pursuing the lust of the flesh and of the mind, totally engulfed in spiritual darkness. These are the people, to whom the people. gospel came. The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, as the scripture indicates. Friends, sinners are not sincerely seeking to understand God in his ways. They don’t have a friendly disposition toward God. There is no one who is worthy to receive the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why, if anything, the wicked are of a hostile mind because men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. But God sends his gospel when and where he pleases. He doesn’t look down to see if someone is worthy of receiving it. He sends it out. And it comes to the Colossians here in particular because God intended to save many people in this city and bring them to himself. So it’s a personal proclamation because it came to you, he says. But notice that there’s a general proclamation here also, as it is in all the world. Now, the indication here is that this did not just happen in Colossi, but we’ll see that it happens in Rome, and it happens in Thessalonica, and it happens in. Ephesus and Galatia and so forth. As we go through all these different cities, these major cities of the Roman Empire, the gospel comes to them and people are converted. The gospel can be compared to the sun, which traverses and illuminates all parts of the globe, as we read in Psalm 19. The light of the gospel of Jesus Christ quickly spread throughout the Roman Empire. Paul and Barnabas in particular were, great instigators in this regard. He says it’s gone into all the world, the greatest parts of the known world. Here in particular, we would refer this to the Roman Empire, as we find in the book of Luke that there went out a decree from Caesar, Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. He means all the provinces of the Roman Empire. And so we have that kind of idea, I think, here all throughout the Roman Empire, the gospel of Christ was proclaimed. Now, this doesn’t require, for instance, that everybody in Greece hears the gospel. Only that the gospel has been diffused in Greece, or in Asia, or in Spain, or Italy, or Syria, or Macedonia, or Africa, or wherever the case may be, that the gospel has come in the various places of heard the gospel in these countries. Various cities have heard the message. The grace of God that bring us salvation hath appeared to all men, Titus 211, all kinds of men, people from all nations, from all walks of life. That’s the idea here. This is the fulfillment of the Great Commission because the gospel was to be preached into all the world. The gospel was to be taken to all the nations. It’s still the solemn duty of the church that carry the gospel to the world. Among all the nations, the truth concerning Jesus Christ is to be known, is to be shared. Now, you individually may not be called to preach, but God has providentially placed you in whatever position you’re in in in life, without whatever contacts you have, to promote the gospel. of Christ. Dispense the gospel to those around you. They may be relatives, they may be friends, neighbors, coworkers. This is how we do our part to spread the gospel of Christ in relation to the Great Commission. Scientists tell us that if a single honeybee discovers a deposit of sweet nectar somewhere, when he goes back to the hive, he spread That’s that good news to his companions. I saw a science film on this once, where it showed when the bees go back to the hive, they do this little dance, and somehow by watching the dance, the other bees know where the nectar is and they can fly out and get it. I don’t know how that exactly works, but it was pretty amazing to watch. And so they sally forth in great numbers to get the nectar. shall we who have discovered God’s grace honey out of the rock of Jesus Christ be less considered of our fellow human beings than bees are of their fellow insects? Ought we not to be like the Samaritan woman who quickly spread the good news of the gospel? She went out to tell others. Tell others what great things Christ has done. for you, the maniac of Godara was told to tell the people of this city. Compassion for your fellow man should not allow you to conceal the good news of the gospel. You want people to be saved, to be converted. Like Jeremiah, though, you may be afraid to speak for the Lord. Anyone who reads Jeremiah the first chapter, you, you’ll see that he’s saying, you know, I’m too young, I don’t want to do this, and I’m a fearful, afraid of people, and God tells them not to be afraid. First he gives him a command to obey. Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. We have a command. It’s our duty to give the gospel out. We have a promise of his presence. Jeremiah is told in verse 8 of chapter 1, be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver. every thee. I’ll be with you. And then he’ll grant you the words to say. Verse nine of that same chapter, Behold, I put my words in thy mouth. God will give us the right things to say to people. And so we have the great commission here being fulfilled, and we have our part to do regarding this. Now we see the importance of the gospel going into all the world. The first thing we see here, if we ponder this a moment, is the fulfillment. of prophecy. The prophecies of the Old Testament prophets, if you read them concerning Jesus Christ, he is to be the king of all nations. The Gentiles will trust in him. And so the Gentiles are being called to salvation, and they are part of the world. And so we see here the Colossians coming to know the Lord is in fulfillment of the Word of God and the Old Testament prophecies. We read in Psalm 2, for example, where God the Father shall give the son the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. We read in Romans chapter 15, in Him shall the Gentiles trust, and that the Gentiles shall praise the Lord and come to know the Lord and so forth. This is the clear teaching of Scripture. Jesus Christ himself taught in Matthew 2414, this gospel, the kingdom shall be preached in all the world. This helps confirm our faith because God’s decree destined this gospel for the Gentiles, that they would believe the gospel. When you and I are saved as Gentiles today, we’re still fulfilling the prophecy. It’s coming to pass in our own day. All these Old Testament prophets concerning the gospel coming to us. This also indicates. to us not only a fulfillment of prophecy, it also indicates to us a common salvation. The same gospel is going out to everybody in all the world. Jude speaks of the common salvation. Paul speaks of the common faith in Titus 1-4 and in Jude 3. This commonness means that all believers scattered throughout all the world, have come to embrace the same doctrine of truths concerning Jesus Christ and the way of salvation in him. We all have the same object of faith, and there is only one faith according to Ephesians 4 or 5. There’s not two or three. There are many nations. There are a vast multitude of different kinds of people that populate these nations. However, the Jews are not saved by the law of Moses. the Gentiles are not saved by the law of nature and the Christians by the gospel. No, all are saved by the gospel. All believe the same message. So they all, according to 2 Peter 1-1, have like precious faith. So when someone comes along with another gospel, we have to reject it. We have to cast it aside. You are to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered, under the saints. The same faith that the apostles teach is the faith we are to believe and embrace. There was a man who proudly proclaimed my grandfather owned this rifle. My great-grandfather owned this rifle. It was a mint-conditioned rifle from the days when the pioneers were moving across the American West. It could easily admire its beautiful walnut stock. and the brass fittings and so forth. The man said, it came down to my grandfather, who passed it to my father, who passed it on to me, and now I’m going to give it to my son. It’s been in the family more than 100 years. Now, this is what we have to do spiritually. It’s the same message that we’re passing down, generation after generation after generation. It’s not to change. You know, people might say, well, why do you use the 1689 confession? of faith. Isn’t that outdated? Well, if the truth of the gospel and the message of God doesn’t change, why would it be outdated? It’s the same doctrine. We should be believing the same thing. So you should take note of the proclamation of the gospel. It’s come to you. It’s a personal proclamation, but it’s come also to all the world. So there’s a general proclamation that has gone out. The second thing, you should take note of the power of the gospel. First, the proclamation, hear the power of the gospel. The gospel brings forth fruit. The gospel has come to you, as it has in all the world, and it bringeth forth fruit, he says. Scripture says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation in Romans 116. When the gospel is proclaimed God effectually works, by his spirit, producing spiritual fruit in individuals. Primarily faith, but also all the other fruits of the spirit. We talk about love and holiness and so forth. As people hear the gospel, faith is granted, they believe the gospel, and all these other graces are developed in their lives. Preaching is aptly compared to sowing. The Word of God, is portrayed to us as seed, that is to be scattered, to be thrown out, if you would, spread out, if you would, onto the field of the world. This gospel seed cast into the ground, bringeth forth fruit, some 100fold, some 60, some 30, according to Matthew 13, 23. It brings forth fruit, the Bible says. The prophet Isaiah says something similar in Isaiah 55. He says, as the rain cometh down from heaven and returneth not thither again, but watereth the earth and maketh it to bring forth and bud. So shall my word not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. It shall prosper in the thing where to I sin it. You know, the rain comes down here in the spring. The rain comes down, the grass grows, the followers pop up. Things happen. Things are produced when rain. comes. The scripture indicates to us when the gospel goes forth, it’s sort of like that, only it brings forth spiritual realities in people’s lives. Spiritual fruit is developed. The omnipotence of God is the one, he is the one who raises people from the dead, spiritually, gives them life and faith to embrace the gospel. Now notice this spiritual fruit is constantly produced. within the believer. It bringeth forth fruit since the day ye heard of it. It’s not that you heard the gospel and God, you know, by his spirit, gave you faith, and that was it. And you just got so much faith. No, but since that time, the Holy Spirit has continued to bring forth fruit in your life. That’s what he indicates to us here. Jesus said this in John 7, 38, and 39. He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow reverts of living water. But this spake he of the spirit. There’s a difference between a puddle of water and a spring of water. A puddle of water can be empty, it can be dried up by the sun, because there’s a limited amount of water. It’s not being replenished. And I was younger. Our church was building a new building. just finished in high school. And that summer, after high school, I was working on the construction crew of the church. In the basement, water would leak in when it had rain and had all these puddles. And I had to go around and scoop up all the water and get it out of the basement so they could put ceiling. So I would spend hours down there scooping up water. There would be this puddle of water, and I’d be there scoop. But I knew if I keep working at it, eventually I’d get the water up. because it was just a puddle there. However, if it had been a spring of water, you can take all the water you want. It’s going to keep producing water. But with a puddle, it’s eventually going to dry out. Well, the Holy Spirit is like a spring within you. He is constantly producing the spiritual fruit. He doesn’t just grant you enough faith to believe and then leave you run dry, run out. faith is constantly being replenished. And so are the rest of the graces like love and joy and peace and patience and so forth. So we come to these truths concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see here how it is working in people’s lives. As you go forth and you witness concerning the gospel, keep in mind this is how God works. works. He works through his gospel. There is no other way by which people are going to be saved. Then by hearing the gospel and the spirit working and planting in this person his grace, changing the person, regenerating the person, giving faith to the person. God is pleased to exert his mighty power when the gospel is being. proclaim. So the word of God is compared in scripture to a sword. It’s called the sword of the sword of the spirit. It’s the only weapon you have. It’s the only means of dealing with people. And the only means is to penetrate within them. Swords are used to penetrate people. Well, the sword of the spirit penetrates the heart. It goes into the inner person, as the scripture indicates to us. Deep in a person’s heart. So you honor God when you use the gospel. When you’re trying to deal with someone, the best thing you can do is give them scripture. Give them the word of God. Give them the message about Christ and the way of salvation. It’s not about your religion, their religion. It’s about God’s message of salvation. That’s what’s important. Don’t leave that sword undrawn. Use it. So the gospel brings forth fruit. Now spiritual fruit only comes with a civilization. sincere belief of the gospel and knew the gospel of God in truth, you said. You knew the gospel of God in truth. That the doctrine preached may be fruitful. We must realize that those who hear it must genuinely believe it. This means that God actually gives the faith to believe it. Knowing here is in a sense of trusting or believing the gospel. embracing the gospel here, loving the gospel, if you would. The grace of God is the revelation of God’s grace in the gospel message. In truth means that they are sincere. There’s no, nothing hypocritical about their profession. It is a true, genuine profession of faith that he’s talking about here. There are those who make an outward pre-tebrate. tense of believing the gospel. In the parable of the sower, we’ve told this before many times about the stony ground here. The seed falls on the stony ground. It may immediately spring up. It may seem like something’s going to be produced. But no fruit ever comes out on the stony ground here’s springing up from the ground. They only endure for a little while. And then they fall away. tribulation or persecution comes and they’re offended and they abandon the faith. The stony ground here never produces fruit. That has to name that you live, but you’re dead, so to speak. Therefore, unless you persevere in the doctrine of the gospel, you continue to believe it. No spiritual fruit will ever be produced in your life. You may easily be carried away by any wind of doctrine, any nature. new doctrine, abandon the faith. If you’re never, if your heart’s never changed by divine grace, then, of course, you’re going to remain barren. Spiritual fruit indicates there has to be some type of life within. A dead tree doesn’t produce fruit, right? And a dead soul can’t produce spiritual fruit. But someone who has spiritual life within them, the spirit is producing spiritual fruit. This is producing spiritual fruit. This is, is a call to examine yourself in this regard? Is my faith real or is it hypocritical? So you should take note of the power of the gospel here. So the gardener didn’t like the nightingales because it kept him up all night. Some people, however, love the sweet and melodious, soothing songs of the nightingales. When it comes to the sound of the gospel, many are annoyed by it, but some, of course, love to hear it. The gospel is to be proclaimed all the world. It is going to be used by God to sovereignly save his elect people in the world. For when it comes to God’s a near-resistable power to God uses when he deals with souls, when he regenerates people. And of course, when he does this, spiritual fruit is produced in people’s lives. Is this true of you? Do you have spirit of? Do you have spirit of fruit in your life, is this the result of you hearing the gospel? Because this should be the result of someone who has genuinely heard the gospel and embraced it in truth. Let us close.