Colossians 1:6b-8
~17 minutes
💭 Consider this: What might others say about your faith, love, and hope if they looked at your life? Are you still approaching God’s Word with the same thirst you had when you first believed?
TRANSCRIPT
I greet you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Our text for this morning's message is taken from the second part of Colossians 1:6 to 1:8. But allow me to read Colossians 1:6-8: "Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit." The Lord bless the reading of His holy and sacred word.
In our previous message, we had dwelt on how the apostle Paul had mentioned three vital components of the Christian virtues. And they were faith, love, and hope. And these three virtues were all linked to one another.
It was the faith that the believers had in their hearts that led them to love the Lord their God with all their hearts, with all their minds and with all their strength; to love their neighbours like the way they love themselves; and even to love their enemies, to bless them that curse them, to do good unto them that hate them, and to pray for them that despitefully use them and persecute them.
Both their faith and love were motivated by the hope that was laid up for them in heaven. And these three Christian virtues — faith, love and hope — were not the result of some wishful thinking, or some humanistic ideas, or some wise men's sayings.
They were based on the gospel in the word of God, which was preached to them, just as it was preached throughout the world. Essentially, the gospel was the good news that Jesus had come to save them from their sins.
Oftentimes, people understand the gospel as only in saving a person at the point of his or her conversion — and that's it. But the power of the gospel does not stop at our salvation, as in our justification.
It continues to save us in our sanctification, transforming our lives. And the sanctifying work of the gospel will continue to save us until we are saved in our glorification. And that is the time when we are glorified and the salvific work is perfect. We are forever free from sin, Satan and the world.
To put it simply, our salvation consists of three parts: our justification, our sanctification and our glorification. God saved us in the past. He continues to save us in the present. And he will save us in the future — ultimately.
We can see this very clearly in our lives. After you and I were converted, we still struggle with temptations - don't we? And at times we are overwhelmed by sins. Every time we sin, we are convicted. We confess, repent, ask the Lord to forgive our sins and we are cleansed.
And then we stumble and fall again. We are convicted. We confess, repent, and ask the Lord to forgive us and we are cleansed. This is the process of sanctification whereby God does His mighty work of transforming our lives.
And it goes on and on and on, until the day we die. And in the resurrection or when our Lord Jesus comes for us in the rapture, we will be glorified - both body and soul.
But until then, there are evidences of the transforming power of the gospel in our lives. And this is what we want to learn from this passage. The title of our message is: ‘The Transforming Power of the Gospel.’
I. The Internal Transformation
Firstly, there is the evidence of the ‘Internal Transformation’.
Let us begin with the second part of Colossians 1:6: "And bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth”
Here, Paul was referring to the gospel that the Colossians had heard and believed. And he called it "the grace of God in truth." Grace is the very heart of the gospel. As fallen men and women, we do not deserve His forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And yet, God freely gives it to us.
As Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The gospel, which is the grace of God in truth, is not just a system of belief or a set of ethics. It is the power of God to save. It is alive, moving and growing in our lives. Paul used the illustrative analogy of a seed that germinates, grows, and bears fruit.
Notice he used the words “heard” and “knew” in the past tense. In other words, since the day of their conversions, the Colossians heard and believed the gospel. The seed of the gospel was already planted in their hearts - and it began to germinate, grow, and bear fruit.
There are different types of fruits mentioned in the Bible: the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of repentance, the fruit of good works. Wisdom is known as a fruit. The praises from our lips are known as fruits. Our giving of tithes and offerings is a fruit. Leading someone to Jesus Christ for salvation is a fruit, etc. And of course, there is the fruit of the Spirit.
As Galatians 5:22-23 tells us: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance."
One theologian gave the illustration of a bouquet of flowers — red, white, blue, green, yellow, orange. Not all the flowers would have the same vibrancy, but nonetheless, they are all there to form a beautiful bouquet of flowers. The fruit of the Spirit, collectively, is like a bouquet of flowers with all the virtues on display. The fruit of the Spirit is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is in us. The fruit is the proof of our salvation. It is the evidence of the power of the gospel transforming our lives.
Very often, people would ask, "How do I know that I am a true believer? Could it be just an emotional feeling on my part? Like after attending a church camp, there's this so-called spiritual heightening. Is it just some feelings that I get? Can I rely on these things?"
Dear friend, one of the most distinguishing marks of a believer is to produce fruits. Fruits is the inevitable mark of a true believer. The analogy of a seed being planted, germinates, grows, and bears fruits is in line with the teachings of our Lord Jesus in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.
Whenever the gospel is preached, it is likened unto a farmer who sows his seeds. Some seeds fell by the wayside and the birds came and ate them — referring to those people who are hard-hearted and stiff-necked. Like the one whom the psalmist says, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1) and he wants to have nothing to do with the gospel.
How often we reach out to people and their response will be, "Keep your gospel to yourself. I want to have nothing to do with it."
Some seeds fell upon stony places and appeared to grow very quickly. But because there was no earth or foundation, when the sun came they were scorched and died — referring to those people who heard the gospel and immediately they said, "Wow, this is great! This is wonderful! Count me in. I want to be a part of it. I want to be a member of the church. I want to be baptised!"
But those elements of joy, excitement, and enthusiasm do not equate to true saving faith. True saving faith has to be built on something, and that is the word of God.
Without the foundation, when trials, troubles and difficulties come, they quickly fall away. We see that happening all the time. People were very quick to believe the gospel and we were very happy for them. They seem to be actively worshipping and serving God in the church for a period of time. Then all of a sudden they went missing. And the next thing we heard about them, they no longer believe God anymore.
Some seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew and choked them, referring to those people who appear to respond with a receptive attitude. But in reality, they are caught up with the cares of this world. They are blinded by the wealth of this world. They want what their neighbours have. They want to rub shoulders with the rich and glamorous. Slowly, they are being captivated and drawn into the world.
But some seeds fell on good ground and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. This fourth kind of good ground was just like the Colossians — people who heard the gospel, accepted it, believed in it and then grew in it. There was genuine repentance. The Holy Spirit was ploughing in their hearts. The sins, like weeds of their former lives, were removed. There was a preparedness. There was the deep, soft soil. There was moisture and nutrients in the soil. So the seed grew and then produced fruits.
There are different conditions in the soil that cause the different levels of fruitfulness in the harvest. Some harvests are better than others. The same thing is true of our spiritual lives.
Not every Christian will produce the same amount of fruits. You and I are placed in different situations, circumstances, and conditions. Like the church we attend, the spiritual resources we are exposed to, the Christian friends we associate with, our obedience to the word of God, our yielding to the Holy Spirit's leading, etc.
So some bear just some fruit, others bear more fruits, yet others bear much fruits. But we will all bear fruits, whether more or less. Because remember, bearing fruit is one of the distinguishing marks of the believer. What about you, my friend? Have you received the seed of the gospel? Are you like the seeds that fell by the wayside, always rejecting Jesus Christ in your heart?
Are you like the seeds that fell upon stony places — very excited initially, very enthusiastic, but when the adversities come, you quickly fall away? Are you like the seeds that fell on the places where the thorns grew and choked them — the cares and the riches of this world? Or are you like the seed that fell on good ground and yielded much fruit — an hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold?
Now, the Colossians did not all of a sudden produce the fruits. Remember, there was the process of the seed being planted. It had to germinate, grow and then produce fruits. But at every point there was this growing process because the gospel was alive and it had produced this new life in them, just as it has produced this new life in us.
Perhaps the best illustration would be the apostle Peter, who used the analogy of a newborn baby to describe the new believer. Maybe you can turn with me to this verse in 1 Peter 2:2. Let me read for you 1 Peter 2:2: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” To desire is to long after or to crave. I believe all of us know what it means to crave for things. We understand what it means to have a passion for things, to have a longing. We understand what it means to be thirsty.
When you have not eaten for days, you have this tremendous craving. Some of us long for love and affection. Some of us long for relationships and companionships. Some of us long for things which are not good, while others long for things that are good.
But with all our longings and desires, there is one thing we need — which is something we often forget and lack. And that is this intense, passionate craving for the word. Here, the word of God is defined as the sincere milk, which means pure, uncontaminated.
We live in a very sinful and corrupted world. But in the midst of all this wickedness, there is something that is pure and sincere. Like a little baby who longs for the milk of the mother. This is the purity of the milk that comes from the mother straight to the child — unpolluted by the world. What a way to describe the unadulterated word of God. Baby craves for milk. It is a natural instinct. It is all they ever do and milk is all they ever want. If you try to give a baby some potato chips, the natural instinct of the baby will reject it — as if telling you that it is junk food. And truly, it is junk food.
Just as the baby craves for the milk, we are to crave passionately for the word of God. If a baby ever stops craving for milk, we immediately know that something is wrong. Something is seriously wrong. There's only one kind of baby that does not crave for milk and that is a stillborn baby.
Just as no Christian who has been born again, regenerated and brought to spiritual life, will ever come to a point whereby he or she will have no need for the word of God. It is impossible. If we have this hunger for the word of God, then Bible study will not be a chore. Bible reading will not be a legalistic thing. Coming for worship service and listening to a sermon will not be an obligation. It will be a delight. It will be a natural thing because it comes from within — the hunger in our hearts.
One interesting thing about a baby is that you do not need to try very hard to get the baby to feed. It is a natural thing that when a baby is hungry, he or she cries for milk. When he wants to be fed, he wants to be fed. When he wants milk, he wants milk. And he will keep crying until he gets the milk. These hungry babies come into this world understanding the desperation of their condition and knowing they need nourishment. This craving and desire should never go away. It ought to be there all the time, because otherwise they will never be able to grow.
In comparison, the sad reality is that as believers, so often we have to be motivated.
We have to be encouraged to do that which ought to be a natural instinct — to hunger for the word of God, which is the source of our nourishment, which is our life. It's a natural thing. Yet we have to be persuaded. We have to be pushed. We have to be, in a sense, forced to do it.
May the Lord forgive us.
The sad thing is that many professed Christians have become Sunday worshippers. By that I mean, Sunday is the only day they carry the Bibles to church. Sunday is the only day they read the scriptures. And for the rest of the week, their Bibles will be collecting dust in some corner of the house. How sad.
Dear friend, we ought to understand that as a child of God, the seed of the gospel has already been planted in our hearts and it is germinating. It is growing. It is producing fruit. And it ought to cause us to hunger more and more for the word.
But our growth does not stop there. Initially, we desire the milk of the word. Milk is a reference to the elementary teachings of the Bible — like the ABCs, in a sense. But Peter went on to say — “that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2) — which means from drinking milk we will grow and progress to eating meat. Just like a baby will one day stop drinking milk. He or she will be eating solid food. You and I, from the elementary teachings of the Bible, we will grow and progress to those things hard to be understood — like the fundamental doctrines of the Bible.
If I may give you an illustration: it is like a new believer who just came to know the Lord Jesus and embrace him as his Saviour. He wants to know more about God. So he attends the basic Bible knowledge classes. But he does not stop there. After he has completed those lessons, he wants to attend the DHW classes to know more about God's will, plan and purpose for his life and for the world around him. But he does not stop there.
Subsequently, he wants to attend the Far Eastern Bible College online courses to have an in-depth study of God's word — to have an intense study of God, men, salvation, events of the end times, etc. The more he learns, the more he puts into practice. And the more he applies, the more he will grow spiritually. Do you see this progressive growth in your spiritual life? Or is your spiritual life stunted — as in, it is not growing at all? God forbids.
II. The External Growth
So there was this internal transformation, this spiritual growth. But there was also this ‘External Growth’.
Notice the spiritual transformation of the Colossians was able to shine and reach out to others. So much so that the apostle Paul said, ‘We have heard about your faith in Jesus Christ and your love for all the believers and how you were able to live out your faith and love based on the hope that was laid up for you in heaven. We have heard all that.’
In other words, the gospel which was planted in their hearts — it had germinated, grew, and produced fruits — and those fruits of faith, love, and hope had not only affected the church at Colosse, but it had reached other regions. Remember at this point in time, Paul was in prison writing this letter, which means their testimony had even reached the dungeon cell in Rome.
Can you imagine if the same thing can be said about us? That our testimonies had reached the shores of other regions — whether it be in Myanmar in the Philippines, in the different states of Australia, and all over the world. I'm not saying this as in a proud sense. That should never be the case - but for the glory of God. Our testimonies, no matter how wonderful they may be, cannot save anyone. But they can be instruments to point the lost souls to the gospel.
So on a personal, individual basis, even in the tiny cubicle in your workplace, your testimony can still reach out and touch the lives of other colleagues in the different departments. Or from the little classroom, your testimony can reach out and touch the lives of the other students in the school. Or our church located here in Oakleigh can reach out and touch the lives of the community. What a testimony that would be.
But Paul did not want to end this section without citing how the Colossians came to believe in the gospel and had such a testimony. There were human instruments in play. And so he said in verse 7: "As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ”
Paul called Epaphras our beloved or dear fellow servant, which means he is a co-labourer in the work of the gospel. And the reason why we believe that he was the pastor of the Colossian church was because Paul said “he is for you a faithful minister of Christ”. Verse eight: “Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.” In other words, he was the one who shared with Paul about the Colossians' love in the Spirit.
Take a moment and consider this. Apparently, Paul was the one who shared the gospel with Epaphras. And then he in turn took the gospel and brought it to the Colossians. And now he came back with this wonderful news of their testimonies.
One of the things I cherish most is the opportunity to minister to the foreign students who come to Melbourne and attend our church. We have the opportunity to minister to them and then they in turn, when they return to their home countries, would minister to others.
Recently, I visited Singapore and I met up with one of these former students. He became a deacon of a particular church, married with children, and he spoke very fondly of Bethel and shared how we have played a part in his spiritual growth. Well, it is so wonderful to hear such a testimony, isn't it? Like Paul hearing from Epaphras about the Colossians' love in the Spirit.
Love is the first on the list of the fruit of the Spirit. It is the word agape. There are several different Greek words for love. Love for friendship, love for family, and even sensuous love — aeros, where we get the word erotic. But agape is the highest form of love. It is a self-giving and self-sacrificing love. It is a love that characterises our God. And the Colossians had such a love — agape.
It does not mean that the Colossians did not have the other facets of the fruit of the Spirit — like joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. If one truly has the love of the Spirit in his heart, it will be manifested in his actions and behaviours.
What do you call someone who displays acts of love, but he does not have love in his heart? You call that hypocrisy, right? He will be just like the legalistic Pharisees in the Bible.
So this virtue of love must first dominate our hearts and then through it will come the other fruits. Without love, we cannot have true joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, and so forth.
Dear friend, if we are true believers, that means the seed of the gospel is in our hearts. It is alive. It is moving and it is growing. There will be this internal transformation. This spiritual growth. Because once this seed of the gospel is being planted, it will germinate. It will grow. And it will bear fruits. But there will also be the external growth where others will be able to see our Christian testimonies. Our faith, love, and hope. Our fruit of the Spirit will be manifested out of our lives.
All this is possible only because of the transforming power of the gospel.
Let us look to the Lord in prayer.
Our Father in heaven, we thank thee for enabling us to consider this portion of scriptures. How we are able to learn from the lives of the Colossians, whose faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, their love for the other believers, which was based on the hope that thou has laid up for them in heaven, was able to shine so brightly.
It was a great testimony for all the people throughout the regions and their testimonies have even reached the dungeon cell in Rome. And we have learned how thou has used the apostle Paul to share the gospel to Epaphras. And then through him the gospel was brought to the Colossians. And the result was this most wonderful transformation. This spiritual growth.
It is all because of thy transforming power — the gospel, the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord and Saviour. He has come. And as thy Spirit dwells in our hearts, as the seed of the gospel is being planted in us — who proclaim our faith in thee, in the only Saviour of the world — this seed will germinate, grow, and produce fruits. It is inevitable. It will happen.
And there will also be this external growth whereby others will be able to see our Christian testimonies — whether it be our faith, love, and hope or the fruit of the Spirit. Our testimonies cannot save any lives, but it can certainly point the people to the gospel — to Jesus Christ, who alone is able to so save the souls of men.
So help us that as true believers, we will live out such a life — with this internal transformation and also this external growth — all for thy glory, for the edification of the saints and for the souls of men. We pray all this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.