Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. What difference did they Gospel makes to the Colossians. They were people who lived in the atmosphere of faith in Christ Jesus. There were people who loved all of the saints in the spirit. They were people of hope who had an eternal perspective in life.
They were a people who were growing in their faith and communicating the gospel to others. Welcome to The Verdict, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor John Monroe. It's one thing to say you believe in something, but it's quite another to demonstrate that belief in your life. Today on the verdict, we're continuing our study in the New Testament book of Colossians. and learning that authentic faith should have a very real and practical impact.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe continuing his message on faith, love, and hope. Colossians was written by Paul in the first century To former pagans who came to saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. But it appears that very early on False doctrine surfaced. In a false teaching circulating in ancient Colossi, there were those who claimed to be extra-spiritual. adding mysticism and legalism.
The Christian faith is based on historical fact. The death, the burial. and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So as Proverbs says, buy the truth and sell it not. Followers of Jesus are not mystics, are people who base their faith on purely some emotional experience. Rather, our salvation and our very lives and our hope are all rooted in the truth of God. Let's learn now from Colossians chapter 1. What difference Does the gospel of Jesus Christ make in your life.
How would you answer that question honestly before the Lord? Is the gospel merely a theoretical belief for you? Or is the gospel of Jesus Christ so radical, so important in your life that it impacts all of your life?
So let's study this passage so that our lives are transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Colossians 1, then, verse 3, Paul says, We always give 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.
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 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.
He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us. Your love. In the spirit. Very inspiring words, aren't they? First of all, let's Think of the evidence Of the gospel in verses 3, 4, and the beginning of verse 5.
The evidence of the gospel.
Now, first of all, in verse 4, he thanks God for the faith of the Colossians. Verse 4. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. The first evidence of the Gospel. In the lives of the Colossians is faith in Christ Jesus.
So he thanks God first. For the faith of the Colossians. Secondly, he thanks God for the love of the Colossians. Verse 4: Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have. For all.
The saints. love, that wonderful Greek word agape, self-sacrificial love. And then in verse 5, Paul thanks God for the hope of the Colossians. Verse 5: Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. And so first of all, Paul presents the evidence of the gospel.
And now, at the end of verse 5, in the beginning of verse 6, he deals with the celebration of the gospel. First, the evidence of the gospel. Secondly, the celebration of the gospel. The end of verse 5. Of this, you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you as indeed in the whole world, and so on.
It is bearing fruit. and growing. The gospel bears Fruit. Paul thanks God that the gospel is spreading throughout. The world.
and that it is bearing fruit. And growing, particularly in the lives of the Colossians. Little wonder that Paul is giving thanks to God. His heart must have been so warmed and moved. about the power of the gospel in the lives of that little church.
in Colossi. Those saved by the gospel bear fruit. Where there's life, there's growth. And where there's growth, there's fruit. This expression bearing fruit to those of you who ever studied Greek grammar is in the middle voice which stresses the power of the gospel to produce fruit.
In 1 Thessalonians 2.13, Paul refers to the Thessalonians receiving the gospel which is at work in you believers. That is This faith is personal. It is in Christ Jesus. And when we receive Christ, This wonderful faith in Christ, and this love for all of the saints, and this hope which is laid up for us in heaven. It impacts us, and one of the things it does.
It bears. Fruit. The word in us transforms us. Remember the teaching of our Lord? in John chapter 15.
The true vine. We're the branches. And Jesus says, As you abide in me, you will bear much fruit. Fruit. Are you like that?
You're bearing fruit in your life. The fruit of the Spirit. Are you a more loving person than you were a year ago? More joyful? Peaceful, contented, patient, good, gentle.
Bearing fruit. has a tremendous impact on others, doesn't it? And the gospel bears fruit. The gospel also grows. Paul says here.
This truth of the gospel has come to you, as indeed in the whole world, it is bearing fruit and growing.
Now, the growing may refer to the outward activity of the gospel as more and more people are one for Jesus Christ. The gospel is like a tree which bears fruit. And it continues to grow. and grow. at the same time.
Here's a challenge to us at church. We want to see many, many people come. to Jesus Christ. Pray. That more and more at church we will celebrate the gospel.
as we see its dynamic impact on the lives of people as it grows and bears fruit. The evidence of the gospel, the celebration of the gospel, thirdly. The end of verse six, and verses seven and eight: the foundation. of the gospel. The end of verse 6.
As it also does among you 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. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. The gospel. And we need this emphasized over and over again in our culture. The gospel is a message.
of truth. In contrast to the heresy and the false teaching circulating in Colossi, Paul describes the gospel, verse 5, as the word. Of truth. Do you get that? The word of truth.
Verse 6 He says the Colossians understood what? The grace of God in truth. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. is based on historical truth. Jesus Christ actually died on the cross.
actually was buried and actually rose again. On the third day. The gospel is not myth, it's not a legend, it's not a fairy tale, it's not superstition, it's not wishful thinking. It is the truth of God. And we must stand, we must stand committed to the truth of God and committed to the truth of the gospel.
I'm told now.
Some of my friends, that churches, we really don't need to defend the truth, as they say, the truth will defend itself. I saw the biblical pattern. Even more alarming is that many churches now downplay objective truth by having less and less biblical exposition and more and more storytelling and so called inspirational talks, usually based On the voyage or the journey of the speaker. But Paul is writing this letter. To refute error and to defend the truth concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are to know the truth and to be able to defend the truth against false teaching and ungodly conduct. Yesterday I had An appointment out of uh Uh the house and um Are we studying? It's about 10.30 in the morning and there's my doorbell rings. Goodney was at the women's conference. And so I go to the door.
And confronted by a man and a woman. Immediately I knew we got two Jehovah's Witnesses. And uh There they stood and they handed me this this tract and as they handed it to me the man said, Do you believe that your future is determined by fate? I said, absolutely not. My future is in the hands.
uh of the almighty god And his Son, Jesus Christ, who is also God. I thought, may as well get it right out there. Mm-hmm. And they sort of looked at me. And uh we had quite Quite a discussion.
Of course they don't believe that Jesus is God. They believe Jesus is God. Small G. There is Almighty God, and then there is Jesus Small G. The first created being.
So I said, Well, you've got at least two gods. No, no, we just have one God. I said, I thought you said Jesus is also God, but He's not the God. Anyhow, we discussed it. I heard the story of two.
Jehovah's Witnesses who are going door to door. Very tough as you can imagine and it was a terrible terrible day of rain And uh it was hard going. No one Spoke to them, everyone told them to get lost. And they were absolutely drenched. They came to this house.
And uh Knocked on the door. And uh the man said Oh, you you look very well. Why don't you come into our house?
So it came in. They they He gave them towels. took off some of their clothes. gave them some of his clothes, and he sat in front of this wonderful warm fire. A very cosy situation.
And then the horse said to them, Now Tell me. Why are you here? They said, we don't know, we've never got this far before. Yeah. That's a joke.
But it's not We've never got this far before.
Some of you don't get it. I don't know what you do when Jehovah's Witnesses come to your door. But one thing I did was to present The gospel. I said to them, I admire your zeal. But you know, there's only one way to God, and that is through his Son.
And apart from acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord. That He is the Alpha and the Mega, that He is the great I am. There is no salvation. We know there's a lot of false doctrine out there. But there's also false doctrine within The church.
That's why Paul says here. It is the word of truth. Listen to Paul writing in Titus 1 verse 9. To the elders. He says, You're to hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
People say, well, you can't be negative.
Well the Bible is negative. Paul says that the church leader is to know the word of God, not only so you positively can give sound doctrine, so that you can refute false doctrine. Jude 3. Tells us that we are to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 2 Timothy 1:14, Paul writes, By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
And if Paul refers to the gospel as the word of truth, it necessarily implies that there are views and opinions which are untrue, in error, and are false. Today, we have a whole society that believes that truth is personal. What is true for you may not be true for me. Truth is what I want to help me in life, is the point of many, many people. But we do not create our own truth.
We don't create our own meaning. The gospel is true whether you believe it or not. It is God's absolute truth. We have our personal opinions, but we do not have our personal truths. Ultimate truth comes from God who cannot lie and who is the truth.
And Jesus said that the only way to God the Father was through him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father apart from him. That ultimate truth comes from God and that the truth is outside of ourselves. It's not found within.
It is revealed to us in Holy Scripture. And God has spoken to us in his word. And the gospel is the gospel of truth. Proverbs 23, 23, that I have on my computer screen, buy the truth and sell it. Not.
And I think, brothers and sisters, this is where A great battle is presently being fought. Harvard professor of religion, Harvey Cox, that many of you know. Says That faith rather than belief is once again becoming Christianity's divining quality. And by faith, he doesn't mean faith in Christ Jesus, according to Colossians, he means spirituality. It's not doctrine.
It's Spirituality. It's our faith. We are people of faith. But the Bible never talks about faith in the abstract. It is always faith in Christ Jesus.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. It's not just believe, it's not just have faith. But Harvey Cox is saying now more and more people In the United States, are defining Christianity not by what they believe, not by doctrine. But by their own personal discovery. of truth.
How sad. The gospel Is a message of grace also, verse 6. The grace of God in truth. And we praise God for that, that grace is central to the gospel. Grace is undeserved favor with God, that God has acted towards us in grace.
In his grace, the gospel came to these believers at Colosse. In God's grace, the gospel has come to you. And to me, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. We can't work to God, we come with empty hands. And receive the wonder.
Of salvation through our Lord. Jesus Christ. The wages of our sin is death, but the gift of God. is eternal life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And this gospel, As we see in verse seven, it is to be communicated and personally accepted. Epaphras, this wonderful brother, communicated the gospel to the Colossians. He's described by Paul as our beloved fellow servant, soon doulas. Doulas, the Greek word for slave. He is a slave of Christ.
He's a faithful minister, the Greek word diakonos. He is a servant of Christ. He's a man sold out to the gospel, and he brought the gospel to the church. to the believers in Colosse. From Epaphras, the Colossians notice the word.
At the end of Verse 6, in the beginning of verse 7, the Colossians heard the gospel. They understood the gospel. They learned the gospel. No one comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ without the communication of the gospel of grace, the gospel of truth. You can build relationships with unbelievers for fifty years.
And it is important that we do build relationships with unbelievers, but building relationships with unbelievers, while important, will never ever save someone. What saves? Not by relationship with someone, not by someone and saying John Monroe is a very kind, helpful person. I hope my neighbors and unbelievers say that about me. What saves?
Romans 10. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. How can they hear without a preacher? Paul argues brilliantly in Romans chapter 10. Of course, we're to build relationships with unbelievers.
Of course, we're to display Christ, but we're also to proclaim the word of truth. And as I spoke to these two dear Jehovah's Witnesses yesterday, so deluded. I tried in God's grace. Praying for God's help to communicate the truth to them as I spoke the word of God to them and as they left. I said to them, Could you do something for me?
You say you know the Bible. Could you read the New Testament, the Gospels? With fresh eyes, with fresh ears. Wondering, is Jesus truly God? to listen to his words.
And to see the Lord in action, to know That your only hope is in receiving him. as your Saviour. And Lord, Without the communication of the gospel, there is no salvation. O'Brien in his commentary writes that Epaphras was giving them systematic instruction in the gospel rather than some flimsy outline. The gospel is so simple that a child can understand it.
Praise God that many come to Christ when they're children. But the gospel is also so profound, isn't it, that we spend all of our lives understanding more and more of the riches. of the unsearchable riches Of Christ. And if we're going to be rooted and established in our faith, we must give ourselves to hearing, understanding, and learning the gospel. And that's why we study the Word of God.
What difference did they Gospel makes to the Colossians. They were people who lived in the atmosphere of faith in Christ Jesus. There were people who loved all of the saints in the spirit. They were people of hope who had an eternal perspective in life. They were a people who were growing in their faith and communicating the gospel to others.
What difference? Does the gospel make in your life? What difference will the gospel make in your life this week? Will you be strong in your faith? Will you pray?
for God's help in every situation in life. Will you trust Christ in the challenging situations of life? Will you keep that eternal perspective, looking to that hope which is laid up for you in heaven? Will you take the opportunity to communicate the gospel to others? Perhaps this week, one unbeliever.
Will you pray? That God will give you the opportunity. to share Christ. With one. person.
The story is told of a wealthy Englishman who had a collection of rare violins. There was one violin which was of such quality and such magnificent that the eminent violinist Fritz Chrysler, I used to have one of these old long-playing records of Fritz Kreisler playing Mendelssohn's violin concerto, Fritz Kreisler. Brilliant violinist, long deceased, obviously. He desired. Yeah.
To have this particular violin that this wealthy Englishman had. But the Englishman wouldn't sell him the violin. But one day, Chrysler came. to see the Englishman, and of course he asked If you could play. the violin.
And the Englishman graciously said, I'm not going to sell you the violin. But you can play it and Fritz Chrysler. Tune the violin. And began to play in such a beautiful way, and he poured his very soul Into The music. And when he finished, he then took the violin and very carefully put it back in its case with the tenderness of a mother putting her baby.
into its crib. And as the owner listened, He then said, mister Chrysler, You can't buy. This violin. Take the violin. I have no right to keep it.
It ought to belong to one who can make such beautiful music with it. As I heard that story, I thought, you know, that's the gospel.
So we celebrate the gospel at the table of the Lord. We take all that we are and have, which comes from God ourselves, and realize. That in his hand there will be beautiful music from our lives. Beautiful music of faith in Christ Jesus. Beautiful music of love for others.
Beautiful music of this wonderful hope laid up for us. In Heaven. demonstrating the beauty of Jesus Christ. as we submit everything we are and we have. To our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
That's the gospel. And that's what we celebrate. This is the verdict featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever.
but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry.
Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Are you being transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ? What about faith and love and hope in your life? Do you have a commitment to the truth? Let me encourage you to study the Word of God, starting with His wonderful letter to the Colossians.
You can read the four chapters in under 20 minutes, but don't rush it. Read it. and re-read it. As you read the book of Colossians, ask God to reveal his truth to you. Join me next time as we continue in Colossians and think of the will of God.
Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
