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It's not just particular, it's
not just what he's saying, but if you would also pay attention
to what he's doing and saying these things. So in verse three,
he's praying and then four through eight give this section on thankfulness.
It's not as if Paul is just simply talking about his prayers. All
right. And then he gets to verse 13
and he suddenly decides, oh, I need to be instructing these
people. So I'll start into a section of instruction. That's not. Faithful. Who also declared to us your
love in the spirit. We know that Paul did not personally
Certainly, at the time of this letter, Paul had not personally
visited the church. Paul is relying upon a report
that is brought to him by this man that he identifies as a papyrus.
You'll see in verse seven there. He gets this report, he says,
verse eight, who also declared to us your love in the spirit. So the things that Paul knows
about this congregation and Colossi, he knows from this report that's
been brought to him. Now a papyrus is a gifted man
and from the evidence that we can gather from the scripture
we can say that he may have been gifted as an evangelist like
Timothy. Paul does call a papyrus you'll notice here he calls him
a fellow servant and a faithful minister. Well these are also
descriptions that Paul had used to describe Timothy. What was
wrong with his role was a papyrus is wrong. Well, he may have been
functioning as a church planter. We read in verse seven that it
is a papyrus who is the one who, I think, founded the church in
Colossae. As Paul says, as you speak into
the Colossians, you also learn. That is, you learned the gospel. You heard the gospel. You learn
from a papyrus our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister
of Christ on your behalf. So in verse six when Paul is
describing this gospel that they heard and knew. Well how is it
they heard this gospel will we see that it is a papyrus it is
by his preaching that they heard the gospel. So it may have been
a papyrus that founded the church and planted the church there
in that in that city. He's a fellow servant and a faithful
minister. The Colossians have heard the gospel through his
preaching. So what can we say just from this little bit of
information? Well, I think we can say this, that Epaphras is
an elder qualified man. He is a man who has proven his
faithfulness and his giftedness, certainly to the effect that
Paul himself is confident. Paul is confident in Epaphras
to the point of calling him a fellow servant. The Apostle Paul looks
at the ministry, the preaching ministry of Epaphras and says
he is a faithful minister of Christ. All right. Now, Epaphras may have been a
church planter. He may have been an elder in
Colossae, if you look in chapter four. In verse 12, his name appears
again here in these final greetings that Paul is giving notice in
verse 12, he says, Epaphras, who is one of you. All right, so he may have. What is that reference? Well,
he may have just simply come from Colossi, but he may have been working
as an elder in Colossi. He is one of you, Paul says,
a bondservant of Christ greets you always laboring fervently
for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in
all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he
has a great zeal for you and those who are in Laodicea and
those in Hierapolis. So you see that. The the Saints
in Colossi are not the only Saints who are familiar with Epaphras.
Epaphras sends his greetings, but he also sends his greetings
to those in Laodicea and to those in Heropolis. He bears a great
zeal for the Saints in this whole region. So he may have been a
church planter. He may have been responsible
for planting churches in those in those other cities, including
Laodicea. That would later get a letter
in the Book of Revelation. So Paul is not personally visited
this congregation. He may have traveled through
Colossi. That's certainly very possible, in fact, very likely,
but he himself has not seen their faces. So he receives a report
and that's how he that's the information that he's working
with. Now, you notice now the things that Paul expresses thankfulness,
the things for which he gives thanks. Again, in verse three,
we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying always for you. And those are the things that
he lists that these are the things that Epaphras has mentioned.
Some of the things that he's mentioned, Paul has heard them
and he's thankful for hearing a report of these things in this
congregation. Verse four, since we heard of
your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints
because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. Paul's
not just simply saying that he's praying for them. He's telling
them how he's praying for them and in doing so is instructing
them, I believe, on how they are to structure and exercise
their own thankfulness, not just listening to Paul and how he
prays. He is teaching them and he is reminding them by his own
example of how to think about the gospel. He mentions these
three things, if you'll notice again, he has heard of their
faith. He has heard of their love. And he's heard of their
hope. Does that sound familiar? I think
you may have read someplace else. He is reminding them of the gospel
in this three part summary. Paul is in this expression of
thanks he is giving them A reminder of how to think about their own
salvation. And the fruits of it, and it's
all in the context of humble thankfulness. Notice how he begins
his prayer. We give thanks to who for these
things that we have heard. We give thanks to the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul is saying this. I thank
the father. For your faith. Epaphras has
brought me a report of how you and Colossae are entrusting yourselves
to Christ. And I thank the Father for your
faith, for that is where it begins, does it not? Faith in Christ. Paul then says, I thank the Father
for your faith producing love. Since we've heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus and of your love for all of the saints, where
does this kind of love come from? Is it not proceeding from their
faith in Christ? And they're believing His word
and His instruction to them. I thank the Father for your faith. And for your faith producing
love. For the love that you have to
Christ and how that now is producing and welling up in you this love
for your brothers and sisters in Christ. And I thank the Father
for your faith And love, but notice what Paul here says next,
verse five, because. I have heard of these things
and I'm very thankful to the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ for your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all
the saints, these two things they have. They are being exercised
in this congregation, Colossi, because of hope, because of what
kind of hope? Because of the hope which is
laid up for you in heaven. I thank the Father for your faith.
And for the love that proceeds and is nourished by this kind
of faith, faith in Christ. I thank the Lord for this hope.
This hope that is strengthening and nourishing and sustaining
this faith and love that you have this hope that you have
in the gospel. Paul has heard a report from
a pastor that there is this gospel expectation and Colossi. There is this gospel expectation
that all true believers have. There is this assurance that
they have in the truth of God's promise. And what does this hope
in the things that God has revealed to them? What does this hope
produce? What is this hope or rather a
better way to put it? What is this hope? sustaining
and strengthening and undergirding. Their faith, so they have faith
in Christ and their faith may start out weak, but it is strengthened
by the promises that God has given them and their assurance
in those promises. You see the three things that Paul is thankful
for. He is, in the very beginning,
reminding them of what the gospel is in short summary form. Now,
knowing what you know about the letter to the Colossians and
about that congregation, do you think that might be important?
But this group of people need from the very beginning, a basic
reminder of what is the gospel that they need to be reminded
of how to think properly about their salvation. And about the
hope that they have and about their love for one another, all
three of these things are being attacked. by the influence that's
working in this congregation. So you see what Paul's doing,
Paul's very, very efficient. Paul's not wasting any time and
he's not wasting any words. He's not just simply saying,
I'm praying for you, but listen carefully to how Paul prays for
them. Listen carefully to the specifics
of his thankfulness. Even in that he is instructing
them so that they are to Read these words in this letter when
it's delivered to them, and the intention is that they stop and
think about. How are we thinking about these
things? Paul is very thankful for them.
What is our response? How are we thinking about these
things? So he's reminding them of their own salvation, and by
saying this, we give thanks to God. Paul is reminding them in
summary form that this gospel that they have heard from the
preaching of a path is a gospel of grace. Why is it that they
have any faith at all? Why is it? How is it possible
that a path can come from this first century city to Rome, bringing
a report with him to Paul and say, there are people in this
city and they have faith in Christ. How in the world is that even
possible? It's a gospel of grace. We give thanks to God. We hear
because we have heard of your faith. How is it? How is it possible
that there would be love? That there would be anybody in
that city. Who would be loving their brother or sister in Christ?
As they should be, that there would be hope in the gospel.
Confidence in God's promises this gospel expectation of God's
faithfulness. How in the world is that possible?
It's a gospel of grace. We thank God for these things.
Well, given today's weather, I couldn't leave tonight without
having a quote about rain. So here's Spurgeon. He makes
a comparison. This comes from his Spurgeon's
sermon notes, which was compiled by someone else. Here's a comparison
that Spurgeon makes between rain and grace. He says the rain gives
joy to the seeds and plants in which there is life. Budding
life knows of it, the tenderest herb rejoices in it. So is it
with those who begin to repent, who feebly believe and thus are
just alive. The rain causes development.
Grace also perfects grace. Buds of hope grow into strong
faith. Buds of feeling expand into love. Buds of desire rise to resolve. Buds of confession come to open
a vowel. Buds of usefulness swell into
fruit. Grace upon grace, it's all about
His grace that we enjoy any of these things. God pouring out
His grace even upon certainly would be the condition here in
Colossae, even upon feeble believers. So that so that Paul can hear
this report and he gives thanks to God. For God has been very
generous with these people. God has been very kind. We shouldn't
expect this kind of a report from anywhere from anywhere in
the world. Is it not amazing to us that
Paul can express this kind of things we can learn from Paul? how to shape our own thankfulness
by seeing what he is thankful for. When you look at this, you
see that Paul has a priority in the thankfulness that he expresses.
You see that there's a priority or there's there's things that
that he considers very important or very valuable. He is thankful
for what of all of the things that Paul could be thankful for.
Where does he start? Where does he lead them in this
instructive description of his prayer? Paul is thankful for
what? for the gospel and he's thankful
for the gospel working in them. And the fruits of the gospel
being seen in them. The concept of priority, this
is an important one for the Christian. Every one of you has a system
of value, even if you've never written it down on a piece of
paper, every one of you has a system of way or a way of determining
what's more valuable than something else. Well, what is it about
Paul's system of evaluation that we can learn from how Paul gives
thanks? What kind of things have you
given thanks for today? It will reveal something about
what you think to be most valuable. It can be very revealing. One mark of the Christian is
that the one who is a true disciple of Christ has this mark upon
his or her character. There is this new system of evaluation. One of the marks of a Christian
is that you go out into this field and you find what you find
this treasure. And what are you willing to do
to have that treasure? You find this pearl of great
price, what are you willing to do? What does the kingdom what
is the kingdom member willing to do for this treasure, for
this pearl of great price and why? There's this new system
of evaluation. That is at work in the heart
of a believer. You see how Paul has a system
of priority or evaluation in his expressions of thankfulness.
This is very helpful to us. What kind of things do you spend
your day throughout the day giving thanks for? Now, is it OK to
be thankful to the Lord for the rain? Absolutely. He sends that
to us and he sustains us. Even in his wisdom, he sends
What we might think is overwhelming rain, but it's all in his wisdom.
All in his perfect wisdom, even in that we can thank God for
his wisdom. What kind of things do we thank God for? It's OK
to thank God for the rain. I. Was it last night? Yeah, last
night I got home a little bit later than usual from a meeting
and it was pouring down rain and I pulled into my driveway
and I said, thank you, Lord, for getting me home safely. And then I thought, thank you,
Lord, for a good roof on my house because it was raining so hard.
Is it OK to thank God for smaller things or temporary things? I
think that's very appropriate to thank God for all of these
things that he's provided for us. But in looking at this kind
of list, it probes my own heart and I have to ask myself, is
that the extent of my thankfulness? When I do offer thanks to my
Lord for his care of me. Is that the extent of it? Is
it only does it extend only to these kinds of temporary things? Or is is it true for me that
throughout the day I'm I'm taken up in an exercise of thankfulness,
not just for my food and for protection from the rain, but
I'm taken up with thankfulness for the gospel. Regardless of
the circumstances, I'm thankful for the gospel and the fruit
of the gospel in my life and the fruit of the gospel in my
church. Am I thankful for those kinds of things? Do I think about
the love that I see among my brothers and sisters in Christ?
Do I think about that? Do I think of examples where
someone's been patient with someone else or long suffering? I'm thankful
for love. That flows from faith in Christ.
So it probes my own heart to think about what is my system
of evaluation, what do I think of as the most valuable? Paul reveals what he holds to
be truly valuable. Now, this is not a complete discussion
of Paul's system of evaluation, but I think it is very revealing
of all the things that Paul could express thanks for. To God, he
gives thanks for the gospel and for the working of the gospel
in their lives. He gives thanks for their faith
in Christ, for their love for one another, for the hope that
they have in the gospel and founded there. Think about your own gratitude
for the graces of God in your life. What is it today that you
have expressed thankfulness for? For the for the lesser things,
temporary things, that's fine. We ought to do that. Well, is that just the extent
of it, though? Have you stopped today to think about how amazing
it is that you have faith in Christ? That I believe His Word? Think about how amazing that
is and stop and give thanks for that. That there would be any
inclination or desire in my heart to love someone else besides
myself. Do I see a little bit of that
in me? Thank you, Father, for the work that you're doing. Thank
you for giving to me, sharing with me of your spirit. Thank
you. Is there do I see hope within
me? And the gospel. Is that the direction that I'm
facing? Thank you, Father. Thank you for the work that you're
doing with me. Well. I think we can ask this question
next, and why does Paul mention these three specific things?
Well, as I have already said, I think Paul is just simply in
summary form preaching the gospel to them. That's what's found
in this summary. He is summarizing the good news.
There are a lot of examples of this what's what some people
call this triad of grace. Let me give you a couple of examples.
Listen in Romans at the opening of Romans five. Listen for the
summary of the gospel using these same terms, just listen for this.
Paul says this, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, whom also we have
access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also
glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance
and perseverance, character and character hope. Now, hope does
not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in
our hearts. By the Holy Spirit, who was given to us, did you
hear those three faith, love and hope? And again, when Paul
writes to the Corinthians, we heard this mentioned this past
Lord's Day, Paul will say, and now abide what three things.
Now, abide these three faith, hope and love, he'll write to
the Thessalonians and he'll say this. This is first Thessalonians
one. He says in his introduction to
them, he says, we give thanks to God. Always for you all making
mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your
work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope. That is
the the endurance of your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and
the sight of our God and father. Again, he is giving a summary
of the gospel again in First Thessalonians five, therefore,
let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk
or drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober,
putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet,
the hope of salvation. And again, in Ephesians four
at the opening of that chapter, Paul were right to them, saying,
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk
worthy of the calling with which you were called. That is, according
to the gospel which was preached to you. So he says. With all lowliness and gentleness,
with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, there
is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope
of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
father of all who is above all and through all. And you hear
those three things again as he gives the summary of what the
gospel is. In the summary of the working
of the gospel in them. Faith, hope and love. The Colossians
need this reminder. These are the very things that
are being attacked by the false teaching and the influence that
they have come under the Colossians need this reminder, because this
is the gospel which was first preached to them by a path for
us. That this is what they need to return to in their thinking.
Is it possible that now some of these Christians and Colossians
are now doubting Epaphras. Is it possible that some of them
are now forgetting or straying from the gospel that Epaphras
preached to them? The gospel that Epaphras preached
is the same gospel that Paul preaches. Paul is giving his
endorsement to Epaphras when he says of him, he is our dear
fellow servant. Epaphras is a faithful minister
of Christ. He is the one who first preached
the gospel to you. And what is the Apostle Paul's
opinion of the ministry of Epaphras? He's faithful. The gospel that
Paul is giving in summary form through his expression of thankfulness
is the same gospel that Epaphras preached to them. This is where
they need to return to. Paul gives this endorsement of
Epaphras for the point of not not puffing up Epaphras. but
for the point of redirecting the Colossians to the truth,
to the gospel that they have heard preached. That, I think,
is one of the reasons why Paul mentions these three things in
summary form. But there's two more reasons
that I think are working here, as Paul mentions these things.
And I think these two other things, given the context of the letter.
Of this false teaching, which is beginning to creep into the
Colossian congregation, This false teaching, which is challenging
the sufficiency of Christ. And if Christ somehow is a little
less than sufficient, then there must be some addition that's
made right through some sort of regulation. Don't touch, don't
taste, don't handle. You've got to make up the lack. So here's another reason why
Paul is giving these these basic reminders, that is, the gospel
can encourage the discouraged. You think it's possible. That
there was a tender hearted Christian in this congregation. And they
began to hear some of these these other influences being whispered
around and perhaps openly taught in the congregation. And I began
to consider how they themselves might be required to add something. There are these regulations that
they're hearing about dietary regulations and other things
that they were allowed to taste and not taste and other things.
But they're tender hearted and they know themselves. And they
try their best to engage and to follow these rules. And they
still know themselves and they know their sins. And what's the
result going to be for that kind of a Christian and Colossians
coming under the influence of this teaching? Do you think they're
going to be discouraged? They try and try and try and
what do they see at the end of the day? All they still see is
sin. All they still see and are very sensitive to is their own
lack of holiness, despite all their best efforts to keep these
new rules. You see how this basic reminder,
I thank God for your faith. I thank God, the Father, for
your love and for your hope. Do you see how that might be
very, very encouraging to a Christian like that? To remember the truth. To meditate upon what is praiseworthy.
For a Christian who had been laboring under a false spiritual
standard. That would have been most definitely
discouraging to the most tender hearted of them. And here is
Paul in his instructive explanation of what he's thankful for. And
he's thankful for the faith And this love and this hope that's
not grounded upon their merit. It's not grounded upon their
own ability to work these things up or their own ability to even
sustain them. Paul says, I thank God, the God
and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, since we heard of your
faith in Christ. That would have been very, very
encouraging. That would have been a very well timed reminder
of the gospel. So Paul is doing these things
when he gives these when he mentions these three things. First, he's
he's giving a summary reminder of the gospel. Secondly, he is
giving a basic reminder of the gospel to encourage the discouraged
if they'll listen to what he's saying. And third, he's giving
a basic reminder of the gospel to humble the arrogant. Remember, Paul mentioned these
characteristics in the context of thankfulness. And who is Paul
thankful to? He's not thankful to the Colossians
for these things. He's thankful to the Father. Do you have faith? It's of grace. Is there love
for your brethren that flows as expression of your faith?
That's from the Father. He's been very kind to you. He's
been very generous to you. Is your assurance grounded in
the gospel that was preached to you? This is a gospel of grace. It's not the gospel of personal
merit. I thank God for these things that I see in you. Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ has been very, very generous. This
is not to your praise. It's all to his praise. Paul
expresses in his thankfulness. If they'll but listen to how
Paul is thankful, the discouraged will be encouraged and the arrogant
will be humbled. Do you think there may have been
some Christians who perhaps were not as sensitive to their sins
as they should have been? And they heard about these new
rules And they thought to themselves, well, I can do that. And they
get to the end of the day, I haven't touched and I haven't tasted
and I haven't handled them pretty well. And here comes Paul. If we'll just listen to how Paul
expresses his thanks, do you think there may have been some
Christians in Colossae who were as a result of this kind of legalistic
teaching? And this promotion of of the
necessity of personal merit. Do you think there were some
Christians who began to walk around saying, God, I thank you that I'm not
like him. And I thank you that I'm not like that poor soul over
there. And here comes Paul expressing his thankfulness in a very different
way. I'm thankful to God for these things. It's all of grace,
not of personal merit. He's been very generous. These
things, We can hear this as Paul expresses his thankfulness, these
things that they enjoy their faith and their love and their
hope. It's not due to the pouring out
of your sweat, it's due to the pouring out of the spirit, it's
all of grace. Well, let me give you a few final
things to think about. I hope that you will consider
how Paul expresses and how Paul is exercising thankfulness, if
you will. Listen carefully and take these
things to yourself and and give it some good meditation and listen
to yourself when you give thanks. And think about the things that
you give thanks for. Let me give you a few final things, number
one, I mentioned last week with the help of John Owen, that prayer
is not only a grace itself that's given to us by the Holy Spirit,
That is the desire for it and the ability to do it. Prayer
is not only a grace to us, but prayer gives expression to all
of the other graces. Now, let me give you a couple
of examples of how we might see this working here with Paul's
thankfulness. How Paul expresses or exercises his thankfulness
is an expression of poverty of spirit. Poverty of spirit is
a grace given to us, it is a blessing. There's a working of the Holy
Spirit in us, working poverty of spirit in us. And you notice
what the entire atmosphere is or the entire environment of
Paul's thankfulness. I thank the father. I'm so thankful
to the father for this report. I have heard of your faith and
I'm thankful to him for that. You see where Paul places his
his sense of dependency. I'm thankful. His expression
of thanks or the praise that he gives is not praise to Epaphras. And it's not praise to the saints
in Colossae. His praise goes to the one and
only God that Paul knows that he is completely dependent upon.
Do you think that might be helpful for some of the Christians in
Colossae to think about this expression that Paul is giving?
The expression, this humble expression of dependency upon the grace
of God for all of the good things and for the most important things,
the most valuable things that we can enjoy in this life. We
are completely dependent upon the Father giving them to us.
This prayer is an expression of another grace. There's many
graces that are being expressed here. I'm just going to give
you a couple to think about. What kind of graces are expressed
in your expressions of thankfulness? As poverty, as poverty of spirit,
does it find voice? In your prayers. When you pray,
see if you pray like the Pharisee, God, I thank you, I'm not like
him. There's no true thankfulness in that there's no poverty of
spirit in that it's an expression of pride and arrogance. You see
how Paul expresses it. I'll give you one more one more
quote from Spurgeon, since I already invited him here. Spurgeon, at
one point, asks this question, he asks, he's at this point,
he's talking about the prayers of the religious hypocrite. And
he asked this question, he asked, will he referring to the hypocrite,
will he continue to pray throughout the whole of life? Well, here's
the answer. The hypocrite soon gives up prayer
under certain circumstances. If he is in trouble, he will
not pray, but will run to human helpers. If he gets out of trouble,
he will not pray, but quite forget his vows. If men laugh at him,
he will not dare to pray. If men smile on him, he will
not care to pray. And then he mentions two possibilities
that are at work in this kind of a man's heart. Number one,
he grows weary. He can make a he can make a spurt,
but he cannot keep it up. Short prayers are sweet to him
or two. He grows secure. Things go well
and he sees no need of prayer or he's too holy to pray. These
are the prayers of the religious hypocrite. What do you what do
you see is lacking in this description of the of the praying of the
religious hypocrite? There's no poverty of spirit.
There's no poverty of spirit, if a man would ever come to the
conclusion that he's too holy to pray. You see what Paul is doing, you
see the expression of dependence, you see how you have a man, even
an apostle. Even an apostle who comes before
God with nothing in his hands and in his expressions of thankfulness,
all of the praise And all of the honor is due to God and God
alone. It is upon him that we are completely
dependent upon these most for these most important things that
he can provide for us. So there's probably a spirit.
What else do you think might what other grace? Might be expressed in Paul's
prayer of thankfulness, I'm I know one that I thought of myself.
How about the grace of love itself? Is the grace of love being expressed
in Paul's thankfulness for them? Now, how would I have responded?
To this report from a papyrus. What I have been patient. What
I have after hearing of these other things that are going to
come up in the letter, what I have is thrown up my hands. What I have said to myself, why
don't these people get it? They had the gospel preached
to them and now look at them. You know what? Let's just forget
about it. Let's move on somewhere else. You see how in Paul's expression
of thankfulness there is. I think he's giving voice to
the love that he has for them. Despite all of the other things,
Paul. Paul can see what is still true
in this congregation as weak as it may be. What do we know
about love? Are we told in first Corinthians
that love bears all things? Is Paul giving voice to that
to that kind of love that in all of this, he gives thanks
to God for some things that he sees in them. He gives thanks,
so he hears a report that is it's it's mixed at best. And
where does Paul begin with him? I'm thankful. I'm thankful because
I've heard of faith and I'm thankful how encouraging that would have
been how how mindful Paul is to be patient with him, to bear
long with them, to bear all things, to believe all things, to hope
in all things, to endure all things. This this this teaching
that he would give to the Corinthians love never fails. So is this
not being expressed as Paul expresses his thankfulness, that grace
of love that Paul that God has worked in Paul's own heart. There's
there's there's there's many things we could we could find
here, but just those two for you to think about is does that
come out in your expressions of thankfulness, poverty of heart,
poverty of spirit? Is that expressed? Is that does
that other grace find expression? In your prayers, how about love? How about love? Even with people
who disappoint you, Can you pray with thankfulness for people
who disappoint you greatly? How about for people who hurt?
It's more than just a disappointment. Maybe it was an intentional wound
that you have suffered at the hands of another person. How how how do you pray? Can you still pray for them?
Find opportunity for thankfulness to God. Some very convicting
things, I think, for even for even for my own heart. Well,
let's consider this. For what do you express thankfulness? What is your evaluation of faith
in Christ? How valuable is that to you?
And do you give thanks for that? What is your evaluation of your
love for your brothers and sisters in Christ or of the hope based
upon the gospel? Are these valuable to you? Are
you taken up? During the day with just a simple
and profound amazement for the things that God has worked in
you. It isn't true that it sets a tone for all the rest of life.
Consider what struggles the Colossians are having in their church, and
yet Paul remains thankful. Because he's heard the support
of their faith. It may be weak faith. But according to the Apostle
Paul's evaluation, it is faith in Christ. And despite all of
the other things that would have been very disappointing, it would
have been very, perhaps frustrating. Paul remains thankful. It sets
this it sets this tone for the way Paul thinks about them and
the way Paul writes to them. The system of evaluation that
Paul has, he's thankful and by his own example. He is instructing
the Colossians to remain and to grow in their own thankfulness,
in other words, I don't think Paul is suffering from television.
He can he can step back from the overall situation of the
church and he can find things to be thankful for. He is enduring
in his love for them, though he's never met them. Paul is also giving instruction
and encouraging reminders when he explains his thankfulness.
Now, I'm going to I'm going to call this a side application
or a secondary application, I want you to think about. I want you
to think about what Paul is doing. Not just the specifics, but what
he's doing. He's not just saying that he's
praying for them, but he tells them specifically how he's praying
for them and specifically how he's thankful for them. Thankful
for the things that he sees in them. So I want to encourage
you to think about how you tell people that you're praying for
them. Now, I can't lay upon you this burden where you need to
approach people with apostolic authority and instruct them as
Paul does. I'm not I'm not saying that. OK. I would just like to encourage
you to think about maybe taking the next step. All right. When you tell someone I'm praying
for you, why not look at the example that Paul is setting?
For the encouragement and instruction of the Colossians, he's not wasting
the opportunity. So maybe we can think about being
more encouraging to one another as we tell one another that we're
praying for each other. Or telling one another how we're
thankful for another. I can't I'm not going to go into
details right now, there was a there was an example that I that I
read this past week. of a sister in Christ writing
to someone else, and she did more than just say, I'm praying
for you. But she gave some very good details of how she was praying. For this other young lady, and
I read that and I thought that's exactly what I see Paul doing.
That this is exactly what I see Paul by his own example, he is
He's making me think about how I talk to people. He's he's probing
my heart and it makes me wonder, am I taking advantage of these
little opportunities to encourage a brother or to encourage a sister
in Christ so that I could say more so I could say not just
if I'm talking to my brother Glenn here and Glenn's had some
things with his eye. Can I take the next step, can
I do more than just say, brother, I've been praying for you. What
if I took the next step and I said, brother, I've been praying for
you and I am thankful for how the Lord has sustained your life
through all this. I mean, surgery with a flashlight
and all this stuff. This is an amazing story. I'm
thankful for the Lord, how the Lord has not only given healing
to your eye, But you know what I'm even more thankful for? I'm
just thankful to see how your faith has been sustained in this
and you've actually grown in your trust of the Lord through
an eye surgery. That's been very encouraging
to me, brother. Thank you. And I'm thankful to the Lord
for how he has sustained you and caused you to grow through
that. Now, how hard was that? I've taken this opportunity to
try to be of a little more encouragement, so I'm just I'd like you to think
about that. And think about what Paul is
doing in the expression of his own thankfulness. Paul doesn't
just say, I'm thankful. I heard some things in this report
and I'm thankful. But he's given some specifics and how those
how those specifics were already being. They're designed to be
working in the thinking of those that hear them. So maybe we can
think about how we tell people that we're praying for them. Maybe we can give a little bit
more detail. Maybe we can make it a moment of encouragement.
Maybe we can make it a moment of instruction. Sometimes a brother
or sister will come up to me on the Lord's Day, and I don't
know if they realize they're doing this. Maybe they do. But
they'll say something to me like, I've been praying for you in
this particular way, and it's so encouraging. And it feeds
my soul. So if you've been doing that,
I keep it coming, I need it. I need that encouragement. Let's
think about how we speak with one another. Paul is being very
careful in how he gives. This expression of thanks, let's
think about ourselves, let's think about how we ourselves
individually and how we corporately are expressing thanks to God
and the things that we thank him for and how we share that
with one another.
The Exercise of Thankfulness
Series Colossians
| Sermon ID | 913101713107 |
| Duration | 46:38 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | Colossians 1:3-8 |
| Language | English |
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