Well may the Lord once again
help us as we turn for our meditation to the Epistle of Paul to the
Colossians and the first chapter and this evening we'll read verses
3 to 6. The Epistle of Paul to the Colossians,
the first chapter and reading verses 3 to 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 the love which he
have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you
in heaven. Wherefore, ye heard before in
the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you,
as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth
also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace
of God in truth. Well, we see after the first
two verses, which we thought upon last week, he then comes
and addresses the Colossians, and you may remember, I said
that it would appear that he'd never actually been to Colossae,
so it was what he'd been told about these brethren at Colossae. And he says, we give thanks to
God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you, since we've heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and
of the love which you have to all the saints. It is always
good and right to give thanks to God and the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. In all things, we have so much
really to give thanks to God for. And it's good to just ponder
and to think naturally the things we have in our home life and
our families, and of course above this, The Lord has been gracious
to us and blessed our souls to truly come and give him thanks
for the great blessing of granting to us that new and spiritual
life. And so he says, we give thanks
to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you. Thanks to God and prayer are
always good to join together. Prayer, of course, is the Christian's
vital breath. Without prayer, we are very far
off and usually quite dead. But what a blessing it is when
the Lord gives prayer and gives a spirit of prayer, especially
when we draw near to God in prayer. And we're thankful indeed that
the Lord's been gracious to us here over many, many years now,
as we gather for prayer, seen fit to grant that door of utterance
and that liberty in prayer, and we believe answers to our prayers. And so we see here the Apostle
with, of course, Timothy. They were joined together in
this, and he says, so at the beginning, We give thanks to
God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you. And he gives the real reasons
why they pray and why they're thankful. And it is because,
as he says, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. Well, surely that is reason for
thankfulness. Surely that is reason to pray
and to praise God. If we hear of the faith that
God has given to one and another, surely it makes our heart rejoice
to hear of the work of God. It's good when we can see it
and speak face to face, but nonetheless, we do rejoice when we hear of
these things, the good news to hear of the work of God appearing
in the soul of one and another. What reason it is today as it
was on this occasion when the apostle wrote this to the Colossians. Since we heard of your faith,
in Christ Jesus. It's essential, isn't it? Without
faith in the Saviour, there's no real life. But what a blessing
it is when we hear of the Lord graciously coming and blessing
one and another. Because he refers here to the
saints. Obviously, there are more than
one, and we rejoice over one, but we rejoice when we hear of
more of one. and truly give thanks. And may
we have many occasions to be able to praise and thank God
for it. And then he goes on to say, and
of the love which ye have to all the saints. The word of God
tells us, we know we have passed from death unto life because
we love the brethren. And that is a very special bond. It's a very special love. which God gives one to another
in the bonds of Christ and it matters not really the outward
appearance it crosses all boundaries this great and glorious love
because it's centred in the Saviour and it flows one to another and
it truly unites the sinners together those who are called by grace
And so it is good news when we see and when we hear of the love
which there is to all the saints. It is indeed a great blessing
and it is a very wonderful thing to observe. And it does break
down so many differences. We might say the love of Christ
constrains us. It constrains us. to perhaps
speak to people that normally we wouldn't think of speaking
to and yet when we can observe this great gift of faith in them
there is that drawing of the Spirit of God one to another
and the blessing is that it's not just something which passes
because in reality it is an eternal love Because the Lord has blessed
those who speak well to each other in the things of God, are
able to testify of what the Lord's done for them, given them this
great and glorious gift of faith in Christ Jesus, and it binds
them together. And you see, these things and
not broken because they are eternal blessings. So he says then, give
thanks and pray always since we heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus and of the love which he had to all the saints. We read that chapter in Timothy. the second of Timothy in the
first chapter. And we read in the verses 9 and
10 these words. Who hath saved us? Just like
the apostles referring now to the Colossians. Who hath saved
us? And called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the Gospel. This was the good
news that the Apostle Paul was able to write to Timothy And
really it's the good news which we have here in these words,
especially in the fifth verse which we have, for the hope which
is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the
word of the truth of the gospel. Really that's what the Apostle
speaks of here when he says, but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death. and that brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel. The Gospel is good news. The
Gospel is that which we rejoice in if we truly are believers,
if we truly are those whom the Lord has called out of the darkness
of nature into the glorious light of the Gospel. We indeed rejoice
in it, because what is it? It's the truth of the gospel.
And we can believe it, because it is true. And that's why we
can rejoice in it. And so he says, wherefore ye
heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. And as he
goes on then to say, which is come unto you, as it is in all
the world. Well, the Gospel has been preached
throughout the world. Perhaps not yet to every tribe
and tongue, but generally speaking, throughout the world. The Lord
is gracious that He's seen fit that it's spread far and wide. And so He's able to say here
in addressing the Colossians, which has come unto you, as it
is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit that's the evidence
of the work of God it brings forth fruit fruit which brings
honor and glory to Almighty God and bringeth forth fruit as it
doth also in you the Apostle clearly heard of the fruitful
things that they've been able to say and do and that's why
he's able to Testify in this way and say, and bringeth forth
fruit as it doth also in you since the day you heard of it
and knew the grace of God in truth. The grace of God again
in truth. The wonderful grace of God. the
free unmerited favor. And here he tells us as he writes
to the Colossians and knew since the day you heard of it, that's
the gospel and the fruit of it. And since the day you heard of
it and knew the grace of God in truth. Well, what a wonderful
thing it is if you and I are blessed to know the word of God
in truth when the apostle wrote to Titus he also spoke of this
hope which we have here in this fifth verse for the hope which
is laid up for you in heaven and when he writes to Titus he
speaks about that and he speaks in this way in the second chapter
in the thirteenth verse looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity
and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. And then he finally concludes
this chapter by saying, These things speak and exhort and rebuke
with all authority, let no man despise thee. Well, may we all
have this blessed hope and looking for the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Well, the Apostle was And may
we today, many years afterwards, still have the same desire to
truly be looking for the great and glorious appearing of our
Saviour Jesus Christ. And so, just in these few verses
we see how indeed the Apostle addresses the Colossians and
encourages them May we be tonight encouraged by such words as this,
as we may have some little good hope that they truly apply to
us. And if the Apostle had to write
about us, that he would be able to write the same things. 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 the love which ye have
to all the saints for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.
What a glorious hope that is. Whereof ye heard before in the
word of the truth of the gospel which is come unto you as it
is in all the world and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in
you Since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of God
in truth. Well, my God, bless you.