Colossians chapter 1, that's where we're going to start tonight. All right, Colossians chapter 1, and we're going to begin here at the first verse. Lord willing, what I'd like to do is I'd like to go through the book of Colossians, what I'd like to do for the next few weeks. I want to just kind of spend some time on this book here. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by will of God, and Timotheus, our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren of Christ, which are at Colossae, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. since we've heard of your faith in Jesus Christ, and the love which you have to all the saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before 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 doeth also in you since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth. As ye have learned of Epaphras, our dear and fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the spirit. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful to every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Now, we're not going to look at all that tonight. You'll notice here Paul is writing to this letter at Colossae, to the Colossians. And the town of Colossae, this town of Colossae wasn't a very large town, but it suffered a lot of earthquakes. It's in modern day Turkey where we'd be at now. And it suffered earthquakes. And it had a major one around AD 14, and it had another major one around AD 60. And it seems like after a few earthquakes, the city just kind of disappeared. It was never really rebuilt. But we know that Paul never visited this city. He never saw it himself, at least in the letter that he wrote here. Because if you look at chapter 2 and verse 1 of this letter, look what Paul says here in this letter. He says, For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for them of Laodicea, And as for many as have not seen my face in the flesh. So you notice that they've not seen him. They don't know what he looks like. They've never met him. So Paul is writing to this church, and he's not ever been there, and he's not met them physically. And so that's what you see going on here. So this letter as he's sending them, it begins with rejoicing. And you'll notice that he begins this letter, and he's got the saints that are on his mind. He's thinking about this church and notice what he says here in verse 3. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. So you notice that Paul is saying here in verse 3 that he's always praying for these saints. He's continually praying for them. He's not forgetting them. He's not letting them slip out of his mind. But he's not going to quit praying for them, but he's always praying for this church. He's remembering them and lifting them up to God. These saints have really, they've touched his heart, what's going on with this church here. Now, Paul has said that before in other churches. He's mentioned that in other letters. For example, Romans chapter one, verse nine, Paul says this, for God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers. There, Paul's talking about the church at Rome. He's always praying for them. The book of Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 15, Paul states this, Wherefore, I also after heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks to you, make and mention of you in my prayers. So notice that he is encouraging this church and letting them know that he is praying for them and he will keep praying for them. And that's very encouraging to know that there's somebody that's always praying for you. Somebody that's always got you on their mind and they're not forgetting and they're praying. That's what Paul is telling this church. And also he encourages this church to do this. Later, Colossians chapter 4 verse 2, he says this, continue in prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving. to the church of the Thessalonica, he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing. The book of Jude tells us this, but ye beloved, building up yourselves on the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. We're to keep praying, keep building up. That's what we're to do. We're not to ever stop praying. So that's what Paul's talking about. He's praying for these people. And I want you to look at this prayer for a second. And we're not going to get to the whole prayer, but just the beginning of this prayer. He begins by what he's happy about, what he's rejoicing in. Notice now in verse 4, what is it that's bringing joy to Paul? Verse 4. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have to all saints. So the first thing Paul mentions here that's bringing him rejoicing and he's thanking God for is the fact of their faith. that they have strong faith. The faith is evident. And I remind the church of what it says in Romans 10, 17. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Now, with that being said, look at verse five. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, where have ye heard before in the word of truth of the gospel? So, they heard the word of truth, they heard the gospel, they believed it, and that faith has sprung up. So, that's what's happening here. Now, you ask yourselves, if Paul didn't preach to this church, how did they hear the gospel? Well, look at verse 7. As you also learn to be Epaphras, our dear fellow servant who is for you a faithful minister of Christ. I don't know who Epaphras is, but Epaphras is probably the one that shared the gospel with these people, probably planted this church and started it, And they believed and heard the word. And so Paphris is probably the one, I don't know for sure, but he's probably the one that has started the work here at Colossae. And so that's what's going on. Then they believed. Simple faith is what started this. Hebrews 11, 6. But without faith, it is what? Impossible to please him. That's right. It's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. There's no other way to please God but by faith. Now, passages like what it says in 1 John 5, 4, I love what it says here. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. That's encouraging. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. As wicked as this world is, if you're born of God, you will overcome this world. And then it says, and this is the victory that overcometh the world. even our faith. What allows us to overcome this world? Your simple faith. That you believe what God said in his word. That is what gives us the victory to overcome. Hebrews 10 38 says, now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. The just shall live by faith. True faith will always change a person. We talked about that this morning in Sunday School. true faith, true saving faith, that person is going to live differently. And that's what you have going on at this church. You have a change. Jesus, when he was speaking to people, this is just in the book of Luke. I'm just going to real quick throw these at you. In the book of Luke, Luke 7.50, he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. What saved the woman? Thy faith has saved thee. Luke 8, 48. He said to her, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. Luke 17, 19. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 18, 42. Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight. Thy faith hath saved thee. So you notice that, how faith does all these things in people's lives. So when I get to the book of Romans chapter 3, verse 22, Romans 3, 22, listen to what it says here in Romans 3, 22. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there's no difference between There's no difference for all of sinning comes short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be propitiation through faith in His Son to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and a justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. So the Bible's telling you there in Romans, when you have faith in Jesus, you put your faith in Christ, Christ pays for your sins. He has got the, he's propitiation for our sins. God poured out his wrath on his son, and he takes the righteousness of Christ and puts that on you. That's only done by faith. You're made righteous, you're made just before God by faith, by putting your faith in the Lord, by trusting. Galatians 3, verse 26, notice what it says here. What makes us children of God? Galatians 3, 26 tells us. It's very simple. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Very simple. That's what makes us the children of God. Simple faith. We can't earn it, we can't work hard enough to do it, we can't please God with our deeds, we can only please God with our faith. And in turn, that faith will cause that to change us. Now, notice Paul's so happy about their faith, but notice what else he's happy about, what that faith has produced. Okay, verse four, it produced something. It says, we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which ye have to all saints. So you know, not only do they have faith, but now what else are they doing? They have love. Not love for the world, not love for the things of the world, but they love the saints. They love the people of God. You know, when people get saved and they get right with God, they can't help but love the people of God. They love the people to go to church with. They love those people that they worship with. They don't call them their friends. They call them their brothers and sisters. They're more than just friends. That's what happens. They're a family of God. John 13, 34. Listen to what Jesus said. John 13, 34. Here, Jesus makes it very clear for us. He clears up all the muddy water out there and shows us how we're supposed to be. A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, shall all men know that you're my disciples if you have love one to another. Did you know people can say they're a disciple of Jesus and they can claim it and they can put bumper stickers on their cars? But do you know what Jesus said? We'll let the world know that you belong to Jesus. It's how you love each other. It's how you love other people. That's what shows that you belong to Jesus. Nothing else shows it. That shows it. That's what Jesus said. John 15, 12, just a couple of pages later. What does Jesus say in John 15, 12? This is my commandment. What is Jesus's commandment to us? Jesus has a commandment. What's his commandment? That you love one another. I have loved you that's his command to us. That's what we're required to do Okay, Christ puts his love in our hearts and we can't help but love each other. So I want to real quick You don't have to turn here. I'm gonna I'm gonna run through these fast, but you might want to jot these down Just in the book of Romans chapter 12 and 13 those last two chapters of Romans There is some In those two chapters there There's a lot of, well, they're not the last two chapters of Romans, but there's a lot of instructions about love. And listen to what it says in Romans 12, 9. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good. You know what dissimulation is? That's when you prefer other people. You love some more than others. That's respect of persons. Love everyone equally. Let love be without dissimulation. Romans 12.10, be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another. We think about other people first. You go to the next dinner at church we have. There's three people standing at the plate and there's two pieces of chicken. What do you do? You better grab one of them quick, right? There's only two. There's three of y'all standing there. No, that's right. You got it. That's right. You think about others. You prefer other people. And you know what they're going to do? They're going to think the same towards you. And probably what's going to happen is y'all are going to split them. That's probably what will happen. Romans 13.8, owe no man anything but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Romans 13, 9. For this thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. If there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Then verse 10, love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Verse 10 is very telling. True love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Remember that. When I went to First John, when I was looking up this, and I was looking at First John, First John, of course, has so much about loving your brothers. First John 311, for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning. that we should love one another. Verse 14, we know that we pass from death into life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 1 John 3, 16, hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Then 1 John 4, 11, beloved, If God so loved us, we ought to love one another. Verse 21. And this commandment we have from him. Who's the him? Jesus. That he that loveth God, love his brother also. And the opposite of that is also stated in John very clearly. First John 2, 9. He that saith he's in the light, and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now. Verse 11, but he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not where he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes. That sounds like a lost person to me. He's in darkness and he can't see. Verse 15, 1 John 3, 15, whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. First John 420, if a man say I love God and hate his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? So that's talking about love, how important it is. Now, sometimes in this life, relationships with people end. And they don't always end on a good note. And sometimes we have to end relationships with people, but that doesn't mean you don't forgive them. Sometimes people do things and just of the nature of what they've done, it just requires us that we separate ourselves from them. And there's nothing wrong with that. And because some people, they think that forgiveness means that no matter what somebody does, is you have to forgive it, and then you have to be their best friend again and invite them over for dinner. They think that's what forgiveness is. That's not what forgiveness is. That's not all forgiveness is. You can forgive somebody, but you don't have to invite them over for dinner and be your best friend anymore. You know, sometimes relationships end. Sometimes it's best to separate. Can you think of anyone in the Bible that had to separate? And they weren't enemies. They had to separate because it was the best thing to do. Paul and Barnabas did. Paul and Barnabas did. Abraham and Lot. Now, do you think Paul and Barnabas hated each other? No. But they had a conflict, and the best thing just goes separate ways. They still love each other, but Abraham and Lot did the same thing. But that doesn't mean they don't forgive each other. But sometimes that's just the best thing to do. Sometimes it's necessary. There's one last thing that when we done tonight that Paul saw in this church that made him so excited. He saw their faith. He saw their love. And then there's one more thing he saw. I don't know if y'all caught it or not, but I'll tell you where it's at. You'll find it in verse six. Fruit. Fruit. He saw fruit. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, wherever you heard before the word of truth and the gospel, verse six, which has come to you and 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. Here is another sign of proof that these people are born again. Not only do they have faith and they love their brothers, But what's happening in their lives? What's being manifest in their everyday walk? They're producing fruit. Fruit is being shown. And by the way, who produces fruit in the Christian life? Who does that? God's people. Only God can do it, right? Only God can produce fruit. So do you remember, if you go to Galatians and we name the fruit of the Spirit, just the term fruit of the Spirit, Who is producing that fruit? God is. Right. The Holy Ghost is. Galatians 5.22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. So there you have the fruit of the Spirit, and this is what Paul is seeing in this church. The Holy Ghost, as He dwells in people and they grow, this is what they begin to produce. Because they're sons of God, they're saved, and that's what Paul sees here. The Holy Ghost is what does this. He's the one that does this work in the believer's life. And I'm looking here. Over in John 14, verse 16, Jesus said this, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter. And this is, you have Jesus is with them now, but he's going to send them the spirit of Jesus, the Holy Ghost, that he may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of Truth, and I love that title for the Holy Ghost, do you know that? The Spirit of Truth. Everything he does is true. He abides in the truth, he produces the truth, he leads the believer in truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. Okay, so there you see where the Holy Ghost, He's the one that produces the fruit. The world cannot produce spiritual fruit. They can produce hypocrisy. They can produce fake fruit. They can act like they have fruit, but they can't produce the real thing, can they? Because they don't have the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost produces the fruit. Romans 8, verse 8, listen to what Paul says here. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. So if so, then that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Being born again, you have the Holy Ghost. And without that, you're just not saved. So I go now to John chapter 15, verse 1. I am the true vine. My father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, Accepted a bride in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. On the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. And men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Here it is my father glorified that you bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. Real simple. According to what Jesus says here, without Jesus, how much fruit are we going to bear? Zero, not one. You know, and when you look at this passage, it's really interesting to me. It starts off with fruit. We're going to bear fruit. And then it goes on to more fruit, much fruit, and more fruit. The more fruit we bear, the more God is glorified. That's what God wants. He wants us to bear more fruit and more fruit. So I'm going to close now. I'm going to finish up. Fruit, again, is the evidence of salvation again. It's the evidence of salvation. So when I was studying this out and I was looking at fruit, I was looking at all the times you see fruit in the Bible. It was interesting, I came to this, and it reminded me of how the Bible compares good fruit to bad fruit, and what produces good fruit and what produces bad fruit. It's like in Jude chapter 1, verse 11. Woe to them, for they've gone after the way of Cain. They've ran greedily after the heir of Balaam. You remember Balaam? For they warred and perished and gained slaying of Korah. Balaam, Had what seemed to be gifts of the spirit, but it didn't have the fruit of the spirit I mean he could prophesy Look like he was one of gods, but he wasn't He had what appeared to be gifts, but he didn't have fruit These are spots in your feasts charity When they feast with you feed themselves without without fear clouds they are without water carried about with winds now listen to this trees and whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Notice they're fruit withereth and they're without fruit. Now, what does that mean? So what fruit they show you, they seem to love you, right? It seems like they love you, but it's a fake love. It's a hypocrisy. It's not a true love. So it withers away. Really, the Bible says they're without fruit. And then the Bible calls them twice dead. What does it mean to be twice dead? Because that's bad. That's like two times a child of hell. Well, what's the Bible call the lake of fire and brimstone? The second death. Same thing. These folks, are already bound for that place. They're twice dead. There's no hope for them. Matthew 3.10 says this. This is old John the Baptist preaching. I like old John the Baptist because he didn't play around. And now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Matthew 7.17, listen to what Jesus said. Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Verse 18, a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. That's exactly what John the Baptist said. That's right. Matthew 12, 33, Either make a tree good, and its fruit good, or else make a tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt. For a tree is known by its fruit. That's true. And then, lastly, Luke 6, 43. For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of ramble brush a bush gather they grapes. So again, the Bible's showing us here that we are known by the fruit that we bear. And so this church, what Paul's rejoicing in his prayer is the three things he saw from them was their faith, their love, and their fruit. That's what he saw there.