This morning we're looking at
the epistle to the Colossians, Colossians chapter 1. This letter
or epistle was written from prison by the Apostle Paul, but is in
truth the Word of God to the Church of God at Colossae, a
city named Colossae, and the Church of God everywhere. This,
as always, the Word of God is written to God's people. What
he says here, he says, to the churches. The first eight verses
are a brief greeting to the church at Colossae, and there are only
two sentences in these eight verses, yet the gospel is declared
here. There are six words that make
up the gospel in these Eight verses, six words, sound words,
words you've heard before perhaps, but these words sum up the word
of truth, the gospel of the salvation of God's people. He begins in
verse 1, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul did not refer
to himself as Father Paul or Doctor Paul or Reverend Paul,
but simply Paul. Flattering titles and high sounding
offices do not belong to ministers or servants. That's what a minister
is. He said, I'm an apostle, an apostle
with a small a there. Apostle simply means a messenger
of Jesus Christ by the will of God, he said. By God's will,
Paul was called to be an apostle. Paul had the Gospel revealed
to him, Christ revealed in him. The truth is a revelation. Paul didn't know it, wasn't seeking
it, but God in sovereign mercy and grace called him by His grace
and by His will made him an apostle by the will of God. And Timotheus,
he says, our brother, Paul and Timothy were constant companions.
laborers together. Verse 2, he says, to the saints,
to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colossae,
to the saints. This is written to the saints,
to the faithful, faithful brethren in Christ. Did you hear that?
If you'll read all of God's Word, you'll see clearly that each
one, especially the epistles, declares who it is written to.
To the saints. Not written to the world. Not
written to every human being, every person. But to the saints. Saints means the sanctified ones. Those who have been set apart
by God unto salvation. Sanctified. He says in II Thessalonians
chapter 2, we are bound to give thanks to God, always to God,
For you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and belief of the truth, through
the means of the Holy Spirit, His sovereign power setting apart
those whom God has chosen to save. And they hear the gospel,
and through the means of faith, yes, without faith, There is
no salvation, but that is not of yourself, even that's the
gift of God. And he says in verse 14 of 2
Thessalonians 2, Whereunto He called you by our gospel to the
obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. To the saints,
or those who have been set apart by God's choice, by God's Holy
Spirit in time to hear the truth, to believe the truth. All don't
believe it. He said there in that same chapter
of 2 Thessalonians, some, because they receive not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. It says God sends them
strong delusions that they believe a lie. Those who believe not
the truth. Well, if you do believe, you've
been blessed by God, you've been chosen by God. It's not of yourself. He says to the saints, the sanctified
ones, and faithful, that means those Full of faith, faithful,
those who have faith in God, the true God, the living God,
God's Christ. And the word faithful also means
trustworthy, those who have been entrusted with the truth, God's
Word, God's Gospel. And how do you know someone is
faithful? Well, they are devoted to God's glory. Every faithful
preacher is devoted to the glory of God, and he gives God all
the glory. He won't take any of it. Every member who is devoted
to the glory of God must and will hear of God's glory, of
Christ's glory, God's Word. He demands that his preacher
be true to the Word of God. Well, and they're faithful to
each other. David one time said, I said in
my haste, all men are liars. And most are. The natural man
is. But not God's people. They're true men, true women.
They're not liars. They'll tell you the truth. even
at the expense of being hated. But he says to the faithful brethren
in Christ, family in Christ, brethren, all men are brethren
in Adam. We are all born of one man, Adam,
but we are all brethren, or that is, the family of God. No sir,
God is the Father of His people. Christ said to some one day,
you are of your father, the devil. And God's people are in His family
by His choice, by Christ's work, by the Holy Spirit's regeneration,
by a new birth. They're adopted by God and they're
born from above. The family of God in Christ. He's the firstborn among many
brethren. And they're sons of God. All men and women are not
sons of God. So He writes to the faithful
brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae, and He says this,
The first word that describes the Gospel, that declares the
Gospel, the true Gospel, is grace be unto you. Grace be unto you. It doesn't say I'm offering grace
unto you. God wants to be gracious to you,
but it says grace be unto you. Grace be bestowed upon you. The grace of God is upon you
because you're a saint. That's why You're a saint by
the grace of God because you're a brother in Christ by the grace
of God, by grace. You're saved. Now, grace means
then, means a gift. A gift bestowed. Not an offer,
but a gift bestowed. Grace is not something offered
unto you. Grace is something done to you. Grace is not an offer unto people
to accept or reject. The saving grace of God is something
God does to us. It's life-giving grace. soul-saving
grace. It's something Christ did for
us by becoming our substitute, the substitute of God's people,
the sin payment, the sin offering. Something the Holy Spirit does
in us in regeneration. The work of God. Work of God. Not an offer, but a work of God
upon a human being. By grace ye are saved. Grace
be unto you. Grace means just that too. A gift. Not something you earn.
But an unearned gift. Undeserved gift. Grace is always
sovereign. It's up to the one who has it
to give it. So it's always sovereign. Grace. Grace. If you want to
sum up the gospel, it is sovereign grace. By grace you are saved.
Peter wrote this in the closing words of his first letter. He
said, I am testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein
you stand. The true grace as opposed to
false grace. That is what you are hearing
today, a mere offer, an invitation. You see, God's salvation, the
salvation written of in Scripture, the true salvation of God's elect
is 100% by God's grace, the operation of God Almighty, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This salvation which
is by God's sovereign grace is this, God Almighty purposed it,
Christ purchased it, and the Holy Spirit applies it. On the
sideline, man is a recipient of this thing of salvation. Man's lost. God's not lost. Man is. God in sovereign grace
purposed to save a people out of Adam's fallen race before
the world began. That's Ephesians 1.4. And God
gave these people to His Son in a covenant before the world
began, gave them to His Son to come to this earth to live as
their righteous representative, to fulfill the law for them which
they could not fulfill and would not fulfill. And He came to do
it, to glorify God as a man for men. as a man for men, not man,
not for all men. And Christ died for those whom
the Father gave to Him in that covenant, not all men. If Christ
died for all men, then all men would be saved. If He paid the
penalty for all men's sins, then all men are saved. But he didn't. Christ said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. He paid the penalty for their
sins. And the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of this Gospel,
and this is what God uses, this is the means that God uses, it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, what the world
calls foolishness, and the Gospel which men call foolishness. Men
can't understand how God uses just the declaration of the truth
of who He is, who Christ is, what the Gospel is, what God's
Word says, and how God uses that to save someone, and He doesn't
need all these business tactics and gimmicks and persuasive methods
and so forth. That's because they haven't experienced
the sovereign power of God themselves. The God, the Holy Spirit, through
the declaration of this Gospel, the declaration of who God is,
gives life, quickens dead sinners, gives the fear of God, repentance,
Faith in Christ, love for God, love for Christ, love for the
truth, a hatred of every false way, and a love for the brethren
and the fruit of the Spirit. They are born from above. They
are a new creature in Christ. All of this is God's grace bestowed
upon them, something done to them, something done for them,
something done in them. Salvation is the operation of
God upon a dead sinner. Salvation is by the grace of
God, not of works lest any man should boast. Your faith is not
a work. If you have true faith, you know
it's not. All of this so-called faith that men exercise, this
free will, accepting, that's not the grace of God. You'll find out someday. Do you
know how many verses of Scripture we could turn to concerning the
grace of God? And I'm not going to get to the
next few verses. This happened in our church when
I began to preach this. Each word, I may do a series
of messages then from each word, but each word deserves a message
by itself. But by grace, we're saying, the
operation of God's sovereign grace be unto you. In short,
If you and I are saved, it is because God Almighty saved us. Period. God Almighty chose us. Period. Because the Lord Jesus
Christ did something for us that we didn't deserve, that we couldn't
do for ourselves, and whoever He did it for, it was a work
of grace. It was salvation. their sins
paid for. People, do you understand that?
That if Jesus Christ actually died for someone's sins, they're
paid for? People love that old song, Jesus
paid it all. Well, if He died and paid for
the penalty of someone's sins, then they can't go to hell. No way. Their sins have been
paid for. God would be unjust to send someone
to hell for something Christ paid for. And the fact is, not one drop
of Christ's blood was shed in vain, but all for whom He died
will be saved, because that's the mark of God's people. That's
whom the Holy Spirit knows to call by the gospel. And whoever Christ died for,
the Holy Spirit comes through the preaching of the gospel,
and He quickens them by His grace, by His power, and calls them
by this gospel. Come, all that the Father giveth
me will come unto me, Christ said. They're my sheep, and I
laid down my life for them. Salvation is by grace. Yes, if
you're one of the saints, it's by grace. If you're a faithful
brother in Christ, it's by grace. Yes, grace be unto you. Well,
until next Sunday, may the Lord reveal Himself to you. Amen.