Colossians 1 6 which is come
unto you as It is in all the world and bring it forth fruit
as it does also in you since the day you heard and knew the
grace of God in truth Now this whole verse refers back
to that one word at the end of the previous verse gospel and
The gospel. And everything this verse says
refers to that. First of all, it's coming to
you. Are we thankful for that? The good news came to Abraham
in his idolatry. The Lord appeared to him, you
remember, and said in blessing, I will bless you. I'm in the
blessing business and you're fixing to get in on it. I love that. In blessing, I'm
gonna bless somebody and Abraham, it's gonna be you. What a beautiful picture of the
gospel when the Lord came where we were and revealed Christ to
us. Abraham wasn't looking for it
that day when it came to him. Saul of Tarsus wasn't looking
for it. The lame man at the pool of Bethesda wasn't looking for
it. Not from Christ, not him, not
a person. Cornelius in Acts chapter 10
was looking for it. He was asking God, give us a
word from you. But if you read the context of
that and see all that God did to arrange that gospel worship
service in Cornelius' home, the gospel has come unto you. It's
come unto you. You know how the gospel came
to me? Think about how it came to you. Here's how it came to me. My
dad and I were in a bookstore in Pasadena, Texas. And they
had a flyer on the wall. We went to that bookstore quite
a bit. They carried the books that expounded the truth and
pretty much nowhere else did. So we would go there and pick
up a book or two here and there. I was kind of buying the Metropolitan
Tabernacle pulpit books as I could afford them, trying to get a
whole set, you know. So we would go there every so
often. And anyway, they had a flyer up on, on their little bulletin
board in there saying that Henry Mahan was going to be preaching
at Bel Air Reformed Church in Houston. And my dad remembered
hearing Henry Mahan preach probably 12 or 14 years before that. He
said, we should go listen to that. We should go attend. And
we did. And while we were there, Henry
asked us if we were members where Jack Shanks pastored. And we
said, Jack, who? And he was a little more than
an hour from where we live. But from that time on, we didn't
miss a service for a long time. So my dad died and I was there
for about 22 years. The first message I ever heard
Jack preach was, are you thirsty? From Revelation and by God's
grace, I was. and the gospel came to me. And after 22 years of being taught
the gospel by a faithful pastor, my phone rang one night and Don
Fortner asked me if I'd be willing to preach to a group of people
in Franklin, Tennessee. Romans chapter 10 says that folks
can't call on the Lord unless they believe on him. How are
you gonna call on somebody whom you've not believed? You see,
you're calling on him to save you. You're calling on him for
mercy. You're blind Bartimaeus, Jesus
thou son of David, have mercy on me. Unless you believe that
he has mercy to give, unless you believe that he can make
you whole, why would you call on him? How could you? So you've
got to believe on him, you've got to trust him. And folks can't believe on Christ,
it says in Romans chapter 10, unless they hear of him. A lot of people hear what passes for a gospel in this
religious age, that unless somebody's preaching Christ, how are you
gonna believe on Christ? And how are you gonna hear, the
question is asked there in Romans 10, how are you gonna hear of
Christ without a preacher? God's not gonna give you a revelation
in the night. He's not gonna give you an epiphany
at a red light. You're gonna have to hear from
one of God's preachers. And how is somebody gonna preach
the gospel unless God sent them? The gospel has come to you by
the grace of God. That's Romans 10, 13 through
17. As it is written, it says after
that, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel
of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. So then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The gospel
has come unto you. And because it has, I'm looking
at many this morning whom God has saved by that gospel. In the same context of what I
just read in Romans 10, it says in Romans 10 20, but Isaiah is
very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought me not. The gospel has come unto you.
I was made manifest unto them that ask not after me. How do you find somebody that
you're not looking for? God sends a preacher, that's
how. He comes to you. And look at the next word and
phrase in verse six. The next phrase there. as it
is in all the world. Now the word world in scripture
never, I haven't found it to this day, one place where the
word world means everybody that ever lived. And I'm pretty sure it nowhere
means everybody that's alive at the given time when the word
is used. Clearly it's not the case here.
The gospel is not preached in all the world, we know that.
in the sense that everybody on planet earth had the gospel preached
to them. That was not true. That's not
what it's saying. We know for a fact that relatively
few people in the world had heard the gospel at this time. So what
does the word world mean? Well, it means that not just
the Jews to whom the gospel originally came. You remember the Lord said
to that woman of Canaan, This is the children's bread. And
that had a double meaning there in that passage, which was very
precious to her, because though the gospel was sent first to
the Jews, clearly revealed in the scriptures, and not the Gentiles,
but when he said the children, that does include the Gentiles,
and he saved that woman. By great faith, he said, But
it never means everybody. It means not just the Jews, but
to all the world. And the gospel originally came
to them, but then the apostles said,
we turn to the Gentiles. Because of your unbelief, we
turn to the Gentiles. And every word, God opened the
door. The apostles went and preached,
and that's what he's saying here. So think about this for a second. Knowing what all the world means
here, knowing what it means, and think about it. The gospel's
preached in all the world. Clearly not every human being
that lived on the earth. Not that. But what it does mean,
knowing what it does mean, the gospel's preached everywhere. knowing back what it means, we
do not expound this by saying, look, everybody has a chance
to be saved. That's how many would say, would
say that mean. Rather, knowing what this means,
we expound this by saying, what grace to be included in that particular Limited exclusive
group of people to whom God has sent his gospel Aren't you glad that all the
world means College Grove, Tennessee Thank God for that And look at
the next phrase breath for fruit Didn't he say it shall not return
them to me boy. I The illustration being the
rain that falls from heaven, what does it do? It brings forth
fruit. It brings forth fruit. It's not
gonna return unto him void. What fruit? What fruit is produced by the
preaching of the gospel? Fruit of the Spirit's love. It's
joy. Peace. Long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness. You know what the next one is?
Faith. It's not of yourselves. It's
the fruit of the Spirit. Lest there be boasting in the
flesh. Uniqueness, temperance, against such there's no one.
And then he said this, as also in you. It always comes down
to that. I've told you before, you can
believe what you want to about whether God loves everybody.
I hope you believe that he doesn't because that's what the scripture
said. But what you need to find out is does he love you? Does he love you? Also in you the gospel comes
to people Comes to certain cities, yes But has it come to you has it
borne fruit in you God does business with individuals
Simon do you love me? Thomas reach hither thy hand Blind man in John nine, do you
believe on the Son of God? You can believe that sinners
are saved by faith in the Son of God, but do you believe on
the Son of God? And then he says this, since
the day you heard. The gospel can come to you and
you not hear it. Blessed are they which have ears
to hear. Faith cometh by hearing. Since
the day you heard, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
word of God. The moment you hear with ears
to hear, remember the Lord said, he that has ears to hear, let
him hear. People will probably stand there
saying, well, I don't see anybody that don't have ears. That's
not what he's saying. If God has given you faith to
believe, to hear with your heart the word of God, the fruit of the spirit is born
in you. The moment you hear with the
ears that God gives, the ear of faith, The Spirit, the fruit
of the Spirit is born in you, the love of God, faith in Christ. There is the hearing of the ear,
which is necessary. You're not gonna hear by faith
unless you hear. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Again, two meanings. You can't hear the gospel, and
you can't hear the gospel, unless God sends a preacher. There's the hearing of the heart,
the hearing of faith. Our Lord said, hear it if you
have ears. If you don't have ears, you're
not gonna hear it. He didn't say that because there
were deaf people there. If there were deaf people there,
they couldn't have heard him say it. Proverbs 20, 12, the hearing
ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.
That's spiritual as well as physical. And look what it is the gospel
tells us. And what it is that we know when
we've heard it. And notice the wording now. Notice the wording. Which is come unto you as it
is in all the world and bring it forth through as it does also
in you since the day you heard." Notice the words of it are in
italics. So let's read it the right way.
Since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. You
heard the gospel, but when you hear the gospel, you're hearing
the grace of God. Since you heard and knew The
grace of God in truth. A lot of people talking
about grace. You gotta hear what God says
about grace. The grace of God in truth. is that God's grace is not Him
giving you a shock, an opportunity, a chance to do the right thing.
That's what passes for grace in this religious world. That's
not grace. Every time God has given people
a chance, an opportunity, what do they do? They sin, they reject
Him. He came unto his own and his
own received him not. He put Adam and Eve in the garden
and gave them everything, paradise. God's grace and truth is that
by grace you are safe through faith and that not of yourself. God saves sinners according to
his will. Grace is salvation. By grace
are you saved, not given a promotion on your job, not, you know, floating
through life on a bed of evil. By grace are you saved. If you
experience the grace of God, there's just one grace, saving
grace. By grace are you saved. If the
grace of God is upon you, you are saved. All that that entails. God saves sinners according to
his will. By grace are you saved. Through
faith and that not of yourself. It's not according to the sinner's
will. It is not of him that willeth. It's according to the will of
God. God makes sinners willing by His will and His power. The grace of God in truth is
that He is found of those who seek Him not. That's what we
just saw. That's grace. That's Saul of Tarsus isn't it?
He wasn't looking for it. Oh, if you'll just, you know,
walk the aisle, if you'll just turn over a new, if you'll just
make a decision. Saul's decision was to destroy
Christ in every way that he could. Why persecutest thou me? God decided something else. Turn with me please to Luke 15,
four. I know this is a familiar passage. But what a context in which to
look at this. The grace of God in truth, here's
what we're saying, the grace of God in truth, what our scripture
says, you're gonna know. Because the gospel came to you,
you're gonna know this. Is that he is found of those
who seek him not. Look at Luke 15, for what man
of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth
not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after
that which is lost, until he find it. And when he hath found
it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep, which
was lost. Rejoice with me. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
need anybody. He can rejoice in his glory,
in his truth. He can rejoice in himself. He
is completely complacent. But even the Son of God doesn't
want to rejoice alone. That's why he said in the beginning,
it's not good for man to be alone. That's a picture of Christ in
his church. You reckon he can get along just
fine without us? Not according to his heart. Rejoice with me. Oh boy, isn't
that true of his people too? Rejoice in together. in the mercy,
in fetching grace. Well, my past rejection, she
used to call it fetching. That's fetching grace right there. Rejoice with me for I have found
my sheep, which was lost. And listen to this. Are you looking
at this passage? Look at verse seven, I say unto
you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that
repented, more than over 99 just persons which need no repentance.
Have you ever noticed in that parable that what it illustrates
is a sinner repenting? What does a repenting sinner
look like? It looks like a sheep that's
completely lost and the shepherd goes where he is and gets it. Well, wait a minute, you know,
salvation's about grace, but you've got to repent. What does
it look like when a sheep repents, when a sinner repents? It looks
like the Son of God, the shepherd of his sheep, going out after
you, finding you, putting you on his shoulders, and bringing
you home. That's what your repentance looks
like. Isn't that amazing? And when you're that sheep, when you're that sheep, that's when you know the grace
of God and truth. And truth. Y'all know I don't like to do
lists. Don't want to put you to sleep But this grace The grace of God in truth, it's
saving grace we just read that by grace you're saved You're
not wooed by grace You're not tempted by grace It's saving
grace It's almighty grace Almighty love arrest that man praise him
forever for it. It's loving grace. In grace,
the Lord set his affection upon us from the foundation of the
world. I've loved you with an everlasting love. That's the
grace we're talking about. It's keeping grace. You can't
mess it up. That's the grace. The grace of
God in truth, you can't forfeit it. Oh, what grace. It's redeeming
grace. It's grace that costs the Son
of God infinite, infinite, infinite price. It's sovereign grace. It's sovereign. God bestows it upon whom he wills.
If He didn't bestow His grace upon anybody, He'd be right.
He'd be just. But He gives grace to whom He
pleases. It's free grace. There's absolutely
no reason for God to give you His grace. None. Except in Himself. Oh, it's all this. There's just
one kind of grace, and it's all of that and more. God's grace
is in Christ. And this word no, we know the
grace of God in truth. That's more than just an intellectual
grasp of facts. The very first definition of
that word no is to become thoroughly acquainted with. Are you thoroughly acquainted
with grace, the grace of God in Christ? where it's your constant
companion. You live in a constant state
of his grace and know it, acknowledge it, thank him for it, serve him
for it. When the gospel of Christ comes
in power to you and brings forth fruit in you, you experience
the grace of God in truth. You become thoroughly acquainted The grace of God in truth is
that Christ redeemed you when he died. Again, the grace of
God in truth is love bestowed. It's not wooing love, but conquering
love. It's not tempting love, it's
almighty love. The grace of God in truth comes
to a helpless, impotent, bankrupt sinner and pours in oil and wine. lifts him up, takes him to the
end. You know what the end is in that
beautiful parable? It's comfort. We went from the ditch to the
end. It's rest. Oh, that man needed
rest, didn't he? Rest is the best thing. When
you're hurt, it was a place of healing. It was Christ. That end was Christ. And he paid his way. And he said, if he owes you anything
else, consider it taken care of. What a beautiful gospel. Grace has come to you. I've told
you before, my favorite phrase in that whole parable of the
Good Samaritan is that he came where he was. Oh boy, not if
you'll take the first step. That's not my savior. No, he
saves sinners that don't have a step left. Aren't you glad? Are you in the arms of his grace?
this morning, carried in the arms of the Almighty. Is anything up to you? I've felt more thankful of that
every day, that I'm just in His arms and nothing's up to me.
Have you ceased from your own labors as God did from His? You ever thought about that?
How did God? If we're to cease from our own labors as God did
from his, how did God cease from his labors? Well, it's very simple. He finished the work and he rested. That's what it is to know the
grace of God in truth. It's to rest in the finished
work. May God give us grace to fall
into his everlasting arms and rest.