As we saw last time, we talked about how we live in a world of false teaching. We live in a world of false teachers, a world of counterfeit gospels. Understanding that, it's imperative that when we talk about the gospel, that we're all on the same page about what the gospel is. If you go out on the street and you ask people if they know the gospel, I've found that typically you kind of find one of two responses. Either one, there's no interest at all, which is sad in and of itself. They brush you off, they just want to get to the bus, and they just want to be on their way. The other possible response you might get from someone as you're sharing the Gospel, you want to talk to them about the Gospel, is that, oh, I know the Gospel. I know it. It's okay. I know it. But in a world of false teaching, in a world of counterfeit Gospels, how do we know that we're talking about the same Gospel? How do we know that we're talking about the same gospel, the same Jesus, the Jesus that the Bible displays for us? There's an interesting exercise that we can do. I've seen someone do it numerous times when we go out to talk to people about the gospel, to make sure that we're on the same page. When we're going out and we're talking to people, whether we know them or not, whether it's on the street or whether it's your neighbor, there's this interesting exercise that we can do. Now when someone tells us, yes, I know the gospel, I know who Jesus is. And if they're willing to stop, they're willing to talk for a little bit, ask them to share the gospel with you. Ask them to share the gospel with you. And pretty soon into their explanation of either who the gospel is or who Jesus is or who God is, pretty soon into their explanation, you'll see whether or not that person actually genuinely understands who Jesus is or what the gospel is. Pretty soon you'll see if they are bearing the fruit that grows from the seed of the gospel. And what we have in front of us this morning in these six verses is essentially Paul doing that. He's making sure we're on the same page. He's showing them, he identifies the gospel, the fruit that comes from the gospel. That's what Paul is doing here. That the true gospel which these Colossian believers have received and heard and believed in, this is the true gospel. which is rooted only in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And that the gospel has borne fruit and it has increased in their lives in Colossae. And this is a testament to the genuineness of the gospel that they receive. That's what's going on in this passage. And the same is true with us. As we are surrounded by false teaching, as we're surrounded by counterfeit gospels, we, too, can stand strong. We, too, can stand confident. knowing that the gospel, which is rooted in Christ and in Christ alone, that it has and it will continue to bear fruit and increase in our lives. Because of this, because of what Paul wants us to see, that only when we receive the true gospel does it produce God-glorifying fruit. Only when we receive the true gospel does it produce God-glorifying fruit. And so that is what Paul sees in the Colossian believers. That is what Paul, is driving Paul to this opening statement. It's driving Paul to thanksgiving, to thanksgiving. He opens declaring his thanks for what he has heard. He says in verse three, we thank God when we pray for you since we heard. That's what he says, we thank God when we pray for you since we heard. He's heard a report, word has gotten back to Paul. Maybe it was Epaphras came to Paul, he was telling him about the success of the gospel in Colossae and these saints, maybe. Maybe Paul is hearing all of this from the slave Onesimus, the slave who Philemon is about and is written about. We don't really know how the word is getting back to Paul, that there are believers in Colossae, that the gospel is bearing fruit. But what we do know is that the report has gotten to Paul. He has heard. He has heard a report detailing both the growth of this Colossian Church as well as the false teaching that they're being pressured by. He's heard that report. But before we get to specifically what Paul has heard, notice first who he is thanking. Notice who he's thanking. He isn't thanking the Colossians for the report that he's heard. He isn't thanking Epaphras or Onesimus for bringing that report. To whom does Paul express his thanksgiving? He expresses his thanksgiving to God. To God. He says specifically, God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is acknowledging here that the advance of the Gospel is wholly and entirely dependent upon the work of God. Just as the essence of the Gospel is Christ's life, death, and resurrection, it was accomplished entirely by God, so too does the spread of the Gospel. The Gospel, that the Son, the second member of the Trinity, would come down having been sent by the Father, having been anointed by the Holy Spirit. Christ purchased our redemption. Christ is gathering to himself his chosen people. That's what Paul is giving thanks for. That is the reason why God and God alone deserves our thanksgiving. He's not thanking the Colossians, he's thanking God. And so as we look around us in the world and we see the gospel advancing, and the gospel is advancing, even though it might not always look like it, the gospel is advancing. When we see new churches pop up, new church plants, when we read New Horizons and we see new church works being done, in our country, we should first and foremost always be drawn to thanksgiving to God for what Christ has done and what he is continuing to do. And when we see these new churches coming into being, when we see these new church works, these new church plants, it's not the work of the men and the women who are unfolding all the folding chairs and putting up all the tables that we should be thanking. No. We are further seeing the work of what God has promised from eternity past, that God would send Christ his son to die so that humanity could be saved. So that humanity could be called out of darkness and brought into the kingdom of his son. That is the core of our thanksgiving and what our thanksgiving should be when we see the gospel going forth. That is the core of Paul's thanksgiving, the work of Christ on the cross to save us. That is what is drawing Paul into thanksgiving. It's not the Colossians, it's Christ. And Christ is continuing to advance his kingdom. That the Gospel is advancing. Christ, through the work of the Spirit, has brought the Gospel to Colossae, just as how Christ, through the work of the Spirit, brought the Gospel to Franklin Square. Christ is still continuing to do this, sending the Spirit, sending the Spirit to bring the Gospel to apply what Christ has done to new believers. But what is it about the Colossian church that is driving Paul to such a profound thanksgiving? What has he heard about these Colossians that's driving him to express his thanksgiving towards Christ? Why in the midst of all the false teaching, in the midst of the counterfeit gospels, why in the midst of all of this is Paul first and foremost drawn to thanksgiving? If I were writing this letter, if I heard of another church and I had the same kind of authority that Paul had, I probably would have been drawn in to say, Colossians, don't you know that you're under attack? Don't you know that you need to defend yourselves? I'd probably take some time in the opening part of the letter to point out here are the five big issues with the false teaching that you're facing. Here's five ways in which Christ answers that false teaching and why Christ is the better way. And if I were brave enough, I'd probably alliterate all of them so that they could remember them. But that isn't what Paul does in the opening of his letter. Look at what he says in verse four. Look at what Paul is saying in the report that he heard Yes, he knows about the threat of false teaching, but he also heard three things. Paul heard three things that give him confidence, knowing that he is truly addressing true believers. This is what Paul heard in his report in verse 4. He heard Your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. That's what he heard. Paul heard the Colossians have their faith in Christ. Paul heard that the Colossians have their love for all the saints. And he also heard that their hope is laid up in heaven. Their hope is laid up in heaven. Paul's thanksgiving flows from seeing their genuine faith, that these three things are proving their genuine faith. One person commented that Paul's thanksgiving arises out of recognizing in others the marks of true Christian experience, existence. These are the marks of true Christian existence. Paul heard of their faith, love, and hope. And we should rightfully take time to look at each one of these in turn. First, Paul heard of their faith in Christ. As we noted last time, the saints in Colossians are first and foremost, they are united to Christ. But why does this bring Paul to Thanksgiving? Why is faith in Christ a mark of genuine faith, a mark of a true Christian existence? For the Colossians, to place their faith in Christ is actually to take a revolutionary stand. This is a revolutionary stand for the Colossians to make. We need to remember the context of Paul's day, the context of the Roman religious system. Romans believed in a pantheon of gods and a whole host of gods, a big, vast number of various different little g gods. As the Roman Empire grew, so did the number of gods that they believed. And as they conquered new areas, they welcomed those gods into their religious system. And not only were the Romans OK with this, Their inclusive system, their inclusiveness was the cornerstone of their religious system. They were welcoming of all gods. So for Colossians, for the Colossians to be known for their faith in Christ and in Christ alone, that was something that would confound all of their Roman neighbors. One person said that in the first century world, in which this letter was written, faith in Christ alone was a revolutionary stand to take. And then he goes on to say, despite the religious pluralism, the many different gods that they had, and the fairly relaxed attitude to the multitude of gods and philosophies that were swirling around at that time, for a person to declare himself or herself a follower of Christ was to step out on a limb. was to reject the entire Roman religious system. Do you catch what he's saying there? To say, I believe in Christ and in Christ alone is a risk for the saints and colossi to take, to take that stand, to stand with Christ. And to stand with Christ is to reject all the gods of the Roman religious system, the Roman pantheon of gods. and to put their faith in God alone and in God alone. The Romans, they didn't like that. We know that throughout history. Because after all, this very issue of taking and believing in God alone and Christ alone is actually the source of most of the great Roman persecutions during the early church. I wish, though, that I could stand up here and say that times have changed, and say that things have gotten better. But in fact, one could argue that things are the same way they were in the Roman culture. Only instead of a pantheon of gods, now our culture is ruled by a pantheon of social movements, of different social movements. In his book, Fault Lines, by Vodie Bauckham, he warns us of the religious nature of the social movements of our day. In that book, he specifically focused on critical race theory, but I think he would agree with me that when I say what I'm about to read from his book applies to all the social movements of our day. He says this. that these social movements, that what they ultimately are is a religious movement. It has all the trappings of religion. It has its own cosmology. It has its own saints. It has its own liturgy. It has its own law. It has all of those elements. And a lot of those things are very subtle, which makes them rather attractive to religious people. Various different social movements are counterfeit religions in and of themselves. That's what he's pointing out, that the social movements of our day don't take kindly to having and putting our faith in Christ alone. It must be, they would say, that it's OK for you to believe in Christ. It's OK for you to believe in Christ for our salvation, as long as you affirm our pronoun. It's okay for you to believe in Christ so long as you approve that love knows no gender. It's okay for you to believe in Christ so long as pro-life means that you're protecting the life of the mother at all costs. It's okay to believe in Christ as long as you also believe in this. And it is only going to continue to grow more and more revolutionary for us to place our faith in Christ and in Christ alone and to live in accord with how he calls us to live. But see what Paul is establishing here in our text, that faith in Christ is one of the fruits of the good news, of the gospel, which Paul is so thankful for. That isn't the only fruit of genuine faith. Paul has also heard of something else. Paul has also heard of their love for all the saints, their love for all the saints. This might be the most distinguishable mark of being a genuine Christian, love. Don't forget what Christ said in John 13, verse 35. Jesus said to his disciples, basically answering the question, how will the world know that you are my disciples? Jesus answers his own question that he didn't ask, but he answers it saying, the world will know you are my disciples by this. if you have love for one another. If you have love for one another. The world will know that we are Christ's disciples by our love for one another. The Colossians have developed a reputation. They've had a deep interest in the well-being of the universal Church, of other churches just outside themselves. That's what we see. That's what Paul means by your love for all the saints. This is the love that the Colossians have. There's a love that pours, flows to them from the Father through Christ and what he has done and has been applied to them and to us by the Holy Spirit. which they are eager to show to all other believers that they know and don't know. It can be reasonably assumed that if we were to try and put together the Colossians Worship Service, that they would gather together for worship, and they would be so burdened by their love for all the other saints throughout the world, that that would drive them to prayer. It would drive them to pray for the advance of the gospel. It would drive them to pray for the work of missions. It would drive them to pray to see the gospel going forth into all of the world. And this is something we, too, must ever and always be striving for, to be constantly in prayer, to be constantly in love for all the saints. And our prayers is an outpouring of our love to pray that the gospel would go forth, that the gospel, the kingdom would continue to advance. This is something that we can pray for in our own church here in Franklin Square. We can pray out of our love for all the saints. We can pray for our presbytery, which spans Connecticut and southern New York. We can and we should be burdened to pray for our whole denomination and the advance of the gospel, as well as other faithful gospel denominations. But most importantly, our love for all the saints that pours from Christ to us This should lead us to pray for the many, many missionaries that are in the world today, not just the ones who belong to our own denomination. Yes, we should remember them, but we should also be praying that all the missionaries that are bringing the true gospel out into the world, we should be praying for them and remembering them because our love for them, we have a love for all the saints. What Christ says in John 13, the world will know you are my disciples by your love. That is something that we should take very seriously. Should always be on the tip of our mind, asking ourselves, am I showing the world love for them? Love for my enemies, just as Christ showed love for me. We can't downplay the gravity of remembering our love. We need to stand strong in the faith. We cannot compromise in the gospel. But if we stand strong in the gospel, but we don't have love, we don't walk in love, to borrow the language of Paul, we're just resounding gongs and clanging cymbals. And all of what Paul is saying here in these first two marks of genuine faith, Faith in Christ, love for all the saints. Paul then moves from their faith and their love to their hope. He grounds their faith and their love in the hope that they have. Their hope which is laid up in heaven. Why are we able to have faith in the midst of social pressure? Why are we able to love when the world hates us? Why are we able to do these things? Because of the third mark of the genuine Christian experience, that Christians are people who have hope. Christians are people who have hope. This isn't just any old hope. This isn't an uncertain hope. This isn't a hope, an uncertain hope that when you go out to your car after a cold winter night in Minnesota that you're wondering to yourself, is my car going to start? I really hope my car is going to start. I don't know if my car is going to start, but I really hope my battery isn't dead. Or an uncertain hope is, boy, I hope I remember to turn the oven off before I left home, or I hope I remember to blow the candle out before I left home. That's an uncertain hope. That's an uncertain hope. And when we make those hopeful statements, we're really uncertain about what's going on. But the hope that Paul is speaking of here, the hope that we see in verse five, is a hope that is based on the resurrection of Christ. This is a hope that is certain because of the resurrection of Christ. This hope of the Colossians is the hope that we have today, which is grounded in the resurrection. And that hope isn't just where Christ is, in which he is laid up in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves cannot break in and steal, but our hope is Christ himself. Our hope is Christ himself. Christ himself, after all, is our inheritance. Just remember the words of 1 Peter when he says in 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 to 4, that he caused us to be born again. What were we born again to? What does Peter say? We were born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And that we were born again to an inheritance, that Christ is our inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. As we experience the pressures from the world, From the social movements of our day, from the false teachers and counterfeit gospels, we do so as believers with certain hope. Hope that just as surely as Christ is in heaven now, that he is resurrected and ascended and exalted, we have certain hope that he will come again. We have certain hope that these pressures that we experience will fade. that they will go away. We have certain hope that Christ will return, and when he does, he will make all things new. He will make all things new, and he will bring with him the new heavens and the new earth. Faith, love, and hope. Faith, love, and hope. These are the three things that Paul has heard in his report from the Colossians, about the Colossians, that despite all the pressure they're facing, they have remained firm in their faith, love, and hope, and that we, too, need to remain firm in our faith, love, and hope. One person once said that Paul cannot think of the true Christian faith, love, and hope apart from the fruitful works that each of these three attitudes produces in the genuine Christian life. These three things drive Paul to prayerful thanksgiving to Christ, to God. And just as we, when we witness these three things, we also should be driven to thanksgiving. When we see these things, we should be driven to thanksgiving. But where does all of this come from? Where do these three things come from, these marks of genuine Christianity? What produced these Christian fruits in their lives? These fruits come from the root, which is the gospel. the root which is the gospel. Look at what Paul says in verses five and six. Of this you heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel which has come to you. Flowing from the word of truth, flowing from the gospel is faith in Christ. Flowing from the gospel is love for all the saints. Flowing from the gospel is a certain resurrection hope. which is laid up in heaven, all of which they heard about, remember, not from Paul, but from Epaphras. all of which is the true and unadulterated gospel. Paul here, and what he says towards the end of this passage, is Paul affirming the ministry of Epaphras to the Colossians, saying, I know you're experiencing pressure from false teachers, but what I want you to know is that the fruit of your lives is coming from the genuine gospel that you heard in the genuine ministry of Epaphras. Epaphras gave you the true gospel. That's what Paul is affirming there. And this should be a reminder to us that as we experience the gospel, are we experiencing the gospel in the same way as the Colossians? Is the gospel bearing fruit in our lives? Are we being filled with faith, love, and hope? That's what Paul's language in verse 6 is speaking to. Have you understood the gospel? It's not just about having a head knowledge, Paul is saying. It's not just knowing the right doctrines. Experiencing the gospel, understanding the gospel is also about seeing a heart change, seeing growth. Are we seeing growth in these areas? That's a question we need to constantly be asking ourselves. That's why we hear every Sunday nothing but the true and unadulterated gospel. That's why God has given to the church as gifts, God has given to the church elders, men who have the authority to keep and to guard the sheep from false teaching, men who at the same time are called to encourage the minister affirming, yes, that was the gospel, and you are feeding the sheep the gospel. This is what flows from the gospel, which it almost feels like in our passage, Paul starts to personify in these middle verses. In verse 6, did you notice the sort of change in language in which Paul's kind of personifying the gospel? The central thing that Paul wants the Colossians to see is that the very thing that is producing fruit in their lives is producing fruit across the Roman Empire and throughout the world. Paul says, the whole world, in the whole world, the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing as it does with you. It's bearing fruit and increasing, as if the gospel is the one that's doing this. kind of personifying the gospel here. Does that language sound familiar? Bearing fruit and increasing. The same language that is used of mankind, that man is called to as part of his creation mandate. Paul is alluding here to that creation mandate. Paul is highlighting here That as Christ, the last Adam, has inaugurated this new age which we now live in, the Colossian believers are now participating in this central call of this new age, of this new kingdom. That we as believers are participating in a new creation. One person says, at the point of this illusion, is to indicate that the Colossian Christians, and I would add us today in Franklin Square, that we have begun to participate in the new creation and thus have commenced to carry out the commission to Adam and Eve in a more effective way than has ever been done in the Old Testament era, that we are called to bring the gospel, to fill the earth with the gospel, to make the gospel known to all who do not know it. The gospel is bearing fruit. The gospel is increasing. But unlike the creation mandate and finding the success of filling the earth, it is not dependent on fallen, sinful mankind. It's not dependent on man. The spread of the gospel, the gospel bearing fruit and increasing, is dependent on the victorious, resurrected last Adam. It's dependent on Christ. who is reigning supreme in heaven, and that he has promised that the Church will never fall, that the gates of hell will never prevail against the Church. And so as the Colossians are experiencing the pressure from false teachers, as we experience pressure from what we labeled last time as progressive Christianity, Paul's emphasis here, that the gospel is going forth, that the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing, this emphasis should fill us with great comfort. And Paul doesn't say that the gospel might bear fruit and increase. He doesn't say that if we work hard enough that the gospel will go forth and will maybe bear fruit and increase. No, he says that the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing. That was true of Paul's day, and it is still true today because of Jesus Christ. and that he is seeing to it that he will build his church and that the world will not prevail against it. As the gospel goes out, the gates of hell will be torn down. We know that. We can be confident in that, because we see the fruit of the gospel coming up in new areas. We can see it here in Franklin Square. We can see it in the New York area. We can see it in our country and across the world, that the gospel is going forth, and it is bearing fruit, and it is increasing. Yes, at times, this may seem slow. Yes, it may not produce as much fruit in one area as it does in another, but Christ is at work in very powerful ways, and that he is calling his chosen people out of darkness into his kingdom. And this should fill us with much comfort. Comfort that when we receive the true gospel, it truly does produce God-glorifying fruit. And Paul opened the first two letters, the first two verses, sorry, establishing and confirming the Colossians in their identity. And then now in these six verses he has confirmed the gospel that they heard from Epaphras. He said that is true. It is true and it is genuine and we know that because of the fruit that it is bearing in your lives. It is because of your faith, love, and hope that we know that you received the true gospel. And because of this clear and present fruit, Paul does not write to these Colossians with a heavy hand, but he writes to them with a compassionate pen. Paul is responding to the false teaching with a loving tone, saying, because we have heard of your love in the spirit, Because we've heard of the love that you have for all the saints, which flows from your faith in Christ, which is grounded and rooted in the hope of Christ's resurrection. We pray for you. We give thanks to you. That's what Paul is saying here. And so let us, ever and always, pray for the advance of the gospel. Let's always pray to see the fruit that comes from the gospel being brought up in new areas. Let's never forget the love that we are called to as Christ's disciples, to have love for all the saints. And let's, as we pray, let's pray out of a great love for those saints. And let's also keep a watchful eye in our prayers, to keep a watchful eye for the fruit that comes from the gospel that is bearing fruit and increasing even today. Let's pray.