WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.599 Well, if you have ever run a marathon or if you're a fan of marathons, I am not. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:08.480 I'm not a runner. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:09.279 I hate running. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:12.640 If you ever see me running, I'm either playing basketball or there's danger. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:19.760 But if you are a fan of marathons, or if you've watched one, you probably are familiar about what they call mile 20. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:21.679 Anyone familiar with that by any chance? 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:22.800 Mile 20? 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:24.879 Yeah, a couple of runners in the room, huh? 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.839 This is where what some would call when runners hit the wall, so to speak. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.880 It's a real physiological phenomenon. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:38.719 You're, according to the experts, your glycogen stores are depleted at this point. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:43.600 This is when your muscles start screaming and aching, and your brain is telling you, hey, what are we doing? 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:44.960 We need to quit. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:47.679 And yet elite runners continue on. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:51.280 They describe it as running through concrete. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:59.359 But here's what marathon coaches will tell you the crowd in a marathon matters when runners hit mile 20. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:08.879 There are studies that actually have shown that runners actually speed up, not slow down, when they reach a large crowd that is cheering loudly for them. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:13.120 That encouragement isn't just psychological, it's measurable. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:17.120 It literally changes a marathon runner's performance. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:22.079 I read one runner who described it like this At mile 20, I was done. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:24.239 I had nothing left. 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:33.359 Then I turned a corner, and there were hundreds of people lining the street shouting my name from my bib number, telling me I could do it. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.560 And somehow I found another gear I didn't know I had. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:39.920 I love that. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:42.719 And here's what I want us to see this morning. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:48.719 There is something special about God honoring encouragement that does something to us. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:57.200 Just like if, you know, if you're we're a kid and you played a sport and maybe you kick a goal or you make a shot, and what's sometimes the kids' first response when they do that? 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.200 They want to look at mom and dad. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:00.159 Did you see that? 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.159 And if they get a grin, they get a thumbs up, they're like, oh, I'm about to drop 20 now, right? 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:09.120 There's something about God honoring encouragement that does something to us. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:14.879 And here we have an apostle, Paul, as we looked at last week, who never met this church in Colossae. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:16.319 He doesn't, he doesn't know them. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:34.159 He knows them secondhand by way of uh epaphras, but he's writing to encourage the Colossians who are presently struggling with false teachers, trying to lead them away from the true gospel and add to their faith in Christ, you know, the law, the worship of angels, and other weird things uh of mysticism and religion. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:40.479 And Paul is writing to encourage these saints and what he sees God doing amongst them. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:46.639 And in doing so, he shows us what a gospel-shaped church actually looks like. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.240 So, what did Paul see in these Colossian Christians? 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.840 What marks a church that's truly in Christ? 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:00.879 Well, Paul kind of has this logic in these first eight verses where he says, so first, this all begins with faith. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:08.639 Faith then leads to genuine love, and that love is based on this eternal hope laid up for us in heaven. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:13.840 That hope comes by way of the gospel, and that gospel produces fruit. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:22.080 So let's start out just looking at verses one through three, and let's look at this flow of logic Paul uses in encouraging these dear saints. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:27.840 Now, we looked at last week how Paul, you know, being an apostle, is writing to a church he has never met. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.840 He's making it clear that, you know, Timothy is delivering this letter. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.319 He knows this church by way of Epaphras. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:42.960 But in verse two and three, verses two and three, he says to the saints, in Christ at colossi, who are faithful brothers and sisters. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.680 This is an interesting verse because it actually can be literally translated in Christ at Colossi. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:55.280 So if you just survey Paul's letters, he's real big on the doctrine of union with Christ. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:00.080 One of the most fundamental ways he describes Christians are those who are in Christ. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:08.080 So he's essentially saying they are geographically located in Colossae, but spiritually they are in Christ. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:09.360 Think about that. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:10.800 Do you think of yourself that way? 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:22.959 It's like we are geographically in Greensboro or in Guilford County, but spiritually we are in Christ, which means this is this is uh an identity-shaping theology here. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:28.800 So you can say, like, I raise my family here, I work here, I serve there, I do this. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.560 However, I am in Christ at Greensboro. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:36.319 I am in Christ at Guilford County, whatever you want to say. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:41.920 My fundamental identity is I am a saint who is in Christ. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:52.079 But Paul is encouraging these dear saints based on the testimony of their faith that he has heard by way of other gospel partners in the ministry. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:05:00.160 When you look down at verse three, he says, We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we prayed for you. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:07.120 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:11.519 Paul often prayed for other believers. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:30.079 If you really pay attention to some of the introductions of his letters and even some of the portions of his letters, like Ephesians has a significantly long prayer, Paul made it a habit to pray for the churches that he had a hand in, and even churches like Colossi, he did not directly have a hand in. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:38.399 We can learn a lot from Paul's example of having a heart posture of wanting to labor on behalf of other saints for their spiritual good. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:40.160 But Paul is very specific. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:51.920 Well, but but he starts out by saying, if you look carefully at verse 3, he says, When we pray for you, which is implied, Paul has a regular pattern of praying for other Christian churches. 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:56.000 Not that Paul is just spending all his time praying unceasingly for every church. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:07.279 He's essentially saying, When I do, when it when you come across my mind, when I do pray about the church of Colossae, I am thankful to God for these specific things. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:13.759 He's thankful for their faith and for their love and for the hope that they have in eternity. 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:26.160 Can you imagine just what encouragement that would do to you and your walk with Jesus if you got a letter from the Apostle Paul and he, you maybe, I don't know, maybe if Paul wrote us a letter today, okay? 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:32.800 Let's say we were the church in Colossae and we heard Timothy show up and said, Hey, Paul wrote y'all a letter. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:36.720 I might get a little nervous because I'm like, I don't know what he's gonna talk about. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:38.399 Is he gonna name me, right? 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:43.920 But instead, he opens it up saying, I give thanks to God for you guys. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:52.240 I pray for you, because I have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the saints. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:54.800 That would that would just encourage you, wouldn't it? 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:00.240 Like, wow, Paul has heard about our church and how we are trying to serve the Lord. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:01.759 Paul often did this. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:05.199 For example, in Philippians chapter one, he does the same thing. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:19.600 He says, I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:27.839 I am sure of this that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:33.519 Isn't that encouraging to hear an apostle say, I am grateful for your partnership in the gospel? 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:35.519 He's like, We're on the same page. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:39.839 We're both trying to serve and exalt Jesus and his gospel. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:42.399 So, what did Paul celebrate? 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.680 What marks a church that's truly in Christ? 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:51.199 Three things, as I mentioned: faith, love, and hope. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:54.480 That's not just a nice sign to put in your kitchen or something. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:56.560 Faith, love, and hope. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:03.519 These aren't just nice virtues, they're the heartbeat of the gospel transformation, according to Paul. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:05.680 Look at verse 4. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:18.160 He goes on in verse 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:24.240 You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:27.279 Let's let's start with faith. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:33.360 When Paul says faith, he is not celebrating some generic faith in faith. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:39.679 I think sometimes we get faith mixed up, like faith is just this like secret mystical thing out in the sky somewhere. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:47.679 No, he's celebrating the fact that they have trusted in the object of their faith, which is Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:55.279 He is saying you have believed in Jesus, you have expressed faith for the specifically for the forgiveness of your sins. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:04.000 So faith to Paul is not some intellectual assent to a statement of faith or to a creed or to some form of religious system. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:08.399 He is saying, no, you have faith in something. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:11.360 The object of our faith is what's vital. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:14.399 So when we say we have faith, that's not enough. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:16.480 We don't just have faith in faith. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.480 The object of our faith matters. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:23.519 And the object of our faith for Christians is the person and work of Jesus Christ. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.679 So faith is not something, you know, it's not like possessing property. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:31.759 It's not, you can't go to Costco and buy a can of faith. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.000 Jesus is the object of our faith. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:42.639 Biblical faith is a vibrant, living trust in the content of the gospel that then shapes how we live. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:48.720 And the Colossians were surrounded by false teachers who would try to add to their faith. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:59.919 They were saying, yes, believe in Jesus, believe in the gospel, but add to your Jesus the worship of angels, or add to your Jesus the keeping of the law. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:03.279 But Jesus plus anything is nothing. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:09.039 Jesus plus something else makes that Jesus no longer the Jesus of the gospel. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:20.639 Jesus plus some form of philosophy, Jesus plus angel worship, Jesus plus religious rituals, whatever we want to add in there, as we'll see when we get to chapter two of Colossians, is no gospel at all. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:25.120 So Paul is encouraging, this is very strategic as a good pastor or apostle. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:36.480 Paul wants to encourage them in their, I guess you could say, somewhat embrace of false teaching, by first starting out with affirming them for believing in the true gospel. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:45.919 Like Paul starting with, let me remind you of who you are and what you've been saved from, your identity in Christ, before he starts addressing some of the false doctrine that was creeping in. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:49.200 So he's saying, Let me celebrate that y'all came to Jesus Christ. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:55.919 You came to faith in Jesus Christ by way of the true gospel and Christ who is the object of your faith. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:00.799 But then he applauds and celebrates their love, their love. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:08.399 God honoring gospel-empowered love for others is a definitive mark of a Christian. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:12.960 It's kind of sad in our day and age we even need to say that as Christians. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:19.039 But God honoring gospel-empowered love for others is a definitive mark of a true Christian. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:24.879 Don't believe me, go read 1 John, where John gives these three tests for genuine faith. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.480 How someone can know or should have assurance that they're a Christian. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.240 One of them is love. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:42.320 In 1 John 4, he says this, dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:43.919 Then he gives the warning. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:51.360 Pretty simple, isn't it? 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.000 If you claim to belong to God, cool. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:55.120 God is love. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:59.519 Therefore, you should love because that shows that you were born of God. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:04.720 Therefore, if you don't love, that's evidence that you're not born of God. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:06.320 No debate there. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:12.000 But notice Paul doesn't say he celebrates their love for some of the saints. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:17.039 He says, You love all, your love for all the saints. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:26.159 He doesn't say, hey, I celebrate that you love the saints in your church who are just like you, or that you love the saints who are in the same season of life as you. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:31.919 He says, No, I celebrate your love for all the saints. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:39.120 And this is a countercultural element here when you think about it, because Paul is writing in a Greco-Roman context. 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:46.559 In their culture, which is very similar to ours in some ways, you love those who could benefit you the most. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:53.440 You were very strategic about your relationships, where it's like, yes, I will serve and love this person because they can give me something. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.480 This is something we can be guilty of as well. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.080 The gospel, though, flips this upside down, doesn't it? 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:10.080 You love fellow believers not because of what they can do for you, what they can offer for you, but because you believe Jesus purchased them with his own blood on the cross the same way he purchased me. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:11.919 They are my gospel inheritance. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.879 They are my brothers and sisters in Christ who I will spend eternity with. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:23.440 Therefore, it is my joy and privilege to serve and love those made in God's image, because of what Christ has done for them. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:35.039 As a matter of fact, I am willing to serve and disciple others, even if they don't reciprocate back towards me, which is hard because we live in a culture that says, hey, manage your relationships. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.159 Like pour into people who are going to give something back. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:45.360 Because if they don't, if you don't reciprocate, if there's no return on your investment, then you might want to recalibrate and make better use of your time. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:52.399 Well, was it really worth Jesus' time to come to earth and live and die to purchase a church who were his enemies? 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:55.919 Yet he is our standard for how we love one another. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.120 And so Paul is saying, I've gotten wind of your love. 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:04.720 I've gotten wind of your faith, and I am encouraged because it is genuine, it is empowered by the gospel. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:11.279 You have love for all the saints, and it has spread to my ears as I sit in a Roman prison. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.039 Friends, the point here is that the gospel has transformative power. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:22.879 A Paphrist, by the grace of God, came to faith in Jesus Christ, likely under the ministry of Paul, went back to his hometown, preached the gospel to his hometown. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:24.399 People came to faith in Christ. 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:31.759 This church is birthed, and lives are changed because they had an encounter with the gospel being proclaimed. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:37.360 So the gospel has both a transformative and reverberating effect. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:40.240 Let me just give some thoughts of application here. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:49.600 Do you understand that saving faith is not solely a one-time decision, but an ongoing trust in Christ's finished work? 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:59.279 Paul does not encourage these Colossians for reciting a prayer at some point during the service or signing a card or just because they grew up in a Christian household or anything like that. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.480 No, he is affirming an ongoing lifestyle. 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:09.840 He's saying these saints have a credible profession of faith because their fruit has borne witness to what they profess. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.360 So this is more than a one-time decision. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:19.360 It has ongoing fruit because the gospel is transformative for those who have been saved by it. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:27.360 Or let me ask this where are you tempted, like the Colossians were, to add on to Jesus? 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:31.919 Now, in face value, you might think, I would never add on to Jesus because that sounds absurd. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.080 I'm sure the Colossians would have said the same thing. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:43.039 The way we can add on to Jesus is by asking us or asking ourselves questions like, what am I trusting in in addition to Jesus? 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:50.639 Like, I know Jesus will take care of me, but I gotta do A, B, and C to make sure this outcome happens. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:55.200 That's a form of potentially adding on to Jesus, not solely trusting in Jesus. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:00.159 I'm not saying as Christians, we just sit on our hands, we don't work and engage and try to do things. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.600 But sometimes we can add on to Jesus in subtle ways. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:12.159 Or we are trusting in Jesus, we say, but we're also trusting in something else for the foundation of our acceptance before God. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:23.200 I believe Jesus died on the cross for me, he rose on the third day and redeemed me by his blood, but I have to keep this list in order to maintain God's favor over me. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.399 That is adding on to Jesus. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:45.120 I think one we're guilty of, I'm guilty, certainly guilty of often, is sometimes when we know we need to confess sin or the spirit convicts us of sin and we feel guilty and we want to go to the Lord in confession, we might think, well, I need to kind of like sit on this for a little bit and just wallow in my guilt and shame before I confess. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.200 So that way it's more genuine. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:54.320 What you're doing is you're adding on to Jesus subtly because you're saying Jesus' death on the cross was not sufficient to atone for all of your sin. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:17:04.559 I need Jesus' atonement on the cross, and I need a little bit of groveling before the Lord to kind of show him my penance and then he'll receive my confession. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:08.559 No, that actually minimizes what Jesus did on your behalf. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:13.519 His death and resurrection was sufficient for all of our sins. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:23.039 Or to think of it another way, how does faith in Christ Jesus express itself in your daily decisions, your relationships, how you spend your time? 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:27.440 Does it show what you profess that Jesus is supreme? 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.920 He is sufficient for all things. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:44.079 I'm bringing this up because what Paul is doing here is he's using this God-honoring praise and encouragement to encourage these Christians to continue to walk with Jesus because they're tempted to wander away from Jesus, which is very strategic. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:45.039 Think about that. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:58.559 If your default is when you're discipling others, if your default is to like slip into teaching mode where you hear a problem and you like a hammer, you see a nail, and you're just like, well, let me just throw a verse at them, let me just teach them, just do this thing. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:00.240 Learn from Paul. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:01.279 Learn from Jesus. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.000 Paul is, we're gonna get to it in later chapters. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:09.039 He is going to teach them, he is gonna instruct them in some of the dangers they're they're succumbing to. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:17.119 But before he does that, he encourages and praises them for the evidence of God's grace he sees in them in the moment. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:18.559 Think about that. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.319 How often do we lead with that? 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:40.559 Like, let me, I see something in this brother and sister that troubles me, and I want to, I want to help them with, but let me start by just encouraging them, by helping them see, hey man, hey, sis, I am so blessed to see how the Lord has just borne fruit in your life in the past year in this way or in that way, before just hitting someone over the head with the Bible. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.039 Just tuck that away for another time. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:48.000 But this is countercultural, the instructions that he is giving. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:56.640 But I love Paul's prayers because they give me examples of how my prayer time should look, how I should be praying and thinking about other Christians when I pray. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:03.920 Ask yourself this question: how often do you give regular thanks to God for other Christians in your life? 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.279 Think about that. 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:08.960 Or who do you thank God for regularly? 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.279 That's what Paul makes a habit of doing. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:20.000 He is regularly thinking about other Christians and their churches and telling them this is what encourages me in my faith about your faith. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:25.680 Or ask yourself this: who in the body of Christ is hardest for you to love? 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.839 Don't look at them, look at me. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:32.480 Who in the body of Christ is the hardest for you to love? 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:36.319 Is it the person with different political views than you? 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:48.960 Y'all know I always get on my soapbox on my love-hate relationship with social media, but it is interesting to see how professing Christians just seem to throw love out the window when they carry themselves over social media. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:59.839 I have yet to see, maybe there's someone out there, I've yet to see a Christian, or anyone for that matter, change their theological views based on getting in an argument with someone in the comment section on Facebook or Twitter. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.519 And yet we keep trying. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:14.960 Or someone says, I love Jesus, I'm a Christian, I'm a healthy member of my church, but then they're sharing things publicly online, condemning people on the left, condemning and speaking poorly and demeaning people on the right. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.039 Or it's like, well, wait a minute. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:18.880 We're all made in God's image. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:20.240 What happened to honor? 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:21.680 What happened to love? 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:26.240 If we have been born of God, we love. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:31.440 Which means loving people who are hard to love. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:38.960 There are a lot of people who are hard to love, and if you don't know anyone, anyone who's hard to love, someone right now might be thinking of you. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:40.559 So just know that. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:55.680 Sometimes people who have a different preference in worship style, different second-tier or third-tier theological convictions, different socioeconomic backgrounds, whatever we can think of, sometimes people are difficult to love. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:04.319 But according to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we recognize wait a minute, that is someone made in God's image, designed for eternity. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:07.039 How could I ever think less of them? 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:12.720 My prayer as a pastor is that by God's grace, Redeemer would be a Colossians 1:4 church. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:14.720 Look what Paul says in verse 4. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:24.319 He's speaking about him and his gospel partners, him, Timothy, and others, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all the saints. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.880 That is my prayer on behalf of this church family. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:42.960 That people outside of our membership would hear of the members of Redeemer Church and how you live your lives as broken, flawed sinners who are imperfect, and that they would give praise to God because of the witness that you're bearing to the world and how you live your life as a disciple of Christ. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:45.759 That would be the greatest marker of a church, wouldn't it? 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:50.559 That is what happens here, was what's happening here with the Colossian church. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:59.759 They are just seeking to faithfully follow Christ in a fallen, broken world as imperfect individuals who didn't even have the full Bible yet, and they're telling. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:07.279 Testimony of faith and love and hope reached all the way to a Roman prison to the Apostle Paul. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:12.799 And now we have the benefit of reading today in 2026 here in Greensboro, North Carolina. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:14.400 That is amazing, friends. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:19.039 So never think that one single church has little influence. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:19.680 No. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:20.799 And who cares? 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:26.079 If your influence is smaller than another church's, the key should be what is the aim of your influence? 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:33.359 And that is leading our lives in a way that exalts the glory of Jesus Christ and proclaims his gospel as well. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:38.480 But notice, and let me just say a quick word here. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:45.519 If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, here's what's interesting about Paul's words. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:55.680 Christians are commanded and expected to love one another and to love those who are not of the household of faith, those who are not following Jesus. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:06.160 John 13, 35, out of Jesus' own mouth, he says, By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.240 So if you're not a Christian this morning, I would just submit that you tuck this away and just think about this. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.160 What Christians do you know? 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:20.559 And just observe their lives and see, is there something distinct about the way that they love others that's different than how you think of love and how you love one another? 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:22.000 Just tuck that away. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:27.680 But moving on to verse five, Paul talks about this eternal hope reserved in heaven. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.640 In verse five, he goes on, because of the hope. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.559 Well, I'm sorry, let me back up to verse four. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:41.759 He says, For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints, because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:47.359 You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel, that has come to you. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:57.200 It is bearing fruit and growing in all the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it, and came to truly appreciate God's grace. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:59.279 Let's focus on verse five. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:07.200 The faith and love that Paul celebrates in verse four is grounded in the hope of verse five. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:11.680 Hope is the foundation of their faith, not the result of it. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:18.240 So, friends, as Christians who love the Bible, hope is isn't wishful thinking. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:22.160 Like when you woke up this morning, you probably hoped it wouldn't rain. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.759 That's wishful thinking. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:26.000 That's not Christian hope. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:30.559 This hope in the Bible is a settled confidence in God's promises. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:34.720 It's a real tangible thing, not wishful thinking. 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:47.920 And for these Colossian Christians, the hope that is reserved for them in heaven, this is interesting language because what Paul is doing here, he's using a completed action, he's describing a completed action that has ongoing results. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.119 He's saying you already have hope because you're in Christ. 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:54.079 But what comes with that hope is a package deal. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:56.880 There is something laid up for you in eternity. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:01.680 Therefore, you were saved, you're now in Christ, you're saints who are set apart. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:09.200 However, that salvation has ongoing benefits and results that will finally be culminated in the last day. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:18.640 He's saying your inheritance in heaven is already secured, and God has set it aside specifically for you in a future time. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:35.039 This isn't a perfect illustration, but think of like when you were a kid and Christmas is coming, and your parents start putting trees under or presents under the trees, and you go up and you see a present with your name on it, and maybe you pick it up, you know, oh, this is heavy. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:36.559 You start shaking it. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:41.920 You can't open it, obviously, but maybe you're trying to, you know, lift up a little bit of the tape to try to see if you can get a peek. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:45.440 But leading up to Christmas, there's this anticipation, isn't there? 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:49.920 Because you're going to school with an extra pep in your step, because you know, like, I got a good, I know I got a good present. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:51.839 I picked it up, it was heavy, I shook it. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:57.759 And you know that on Christmas Day, you get to have the prize, the gift. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:00.240 You get to open it and benefit from it. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:05.680 That pells in comparison to what Paul is encouraging these Colossians with. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:14.720 He's saying that the hope that God offers them is laid up for them and reserved and secure in eternity, and they one day will receive it and benefit from it. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:20.319 But that hope that's coming in eternity is to shape how they live presently today. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:27.759 And that hope, therefore, is changing them, changing their perspective, but also changing how they lead their lives. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.680 Uh, you don't have to turn here, but I I love Hebrews chapter 11. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:37.279 You can turn here if you want, but Hebrews chapter 11 is one of the best examples of this, I believe, in the life of Moses. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:48.880 And Hebrews 11, the author is describing all these faithful saints who put their hope in God, and some of them didn't even see the fulfillment of the promise, and yet they still believed, and it was uh accounted to them as faith. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:53.920 But here's an example of a future hope leading to a transformed life in the present. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:57.599 Let's look at my man Moses in Hebrews 11, verse 23. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:08.720 The text says, By faith, Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful and they didn't fear the king's edict. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:33.759 By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin, for he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:40.559 Now, if you have a careful eye, you might be thinking, wait a minute, Moses didn't have the New Testament. 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:46.079 Moses didn't understand the mystery of the gospel in its entirety as we do. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:56.000 So how is it then in verse 26, the author of Hebrews is convinced that he considered the reproach of Christ to be greater than the treasures of Egypt? 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:57.519 That's hope. 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:01.680 The content Moses did have, he trusted in God for. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:06.640 And listen, us American Christians do not think like this. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:09.839 I want you to pay attention to what Moses chose to do. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:11.519 Let's just let's modernize this, okay? 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.519 The new Cam Urban translation. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:16.799 Moses could have had a lit life, okay? 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:21.920 He could have had all the wealth, all the prestige and influence. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:33.119 He could have had anything, his his desires, whatever fleshly desires he had, he could have had his his beckon call if only he chose to identify as a son of Pharaoh's daughter. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:35.039 All of that would have been his. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:42.640 And yet, not only did he reject that, but look at what he chose in place of it. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:44.960 Verse 25. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:48.400 And chose to suffer. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:49.920 Let's just stop there. 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:52.559 How many of us would sign up for that? 00:28:53.599 --> 00:29:00.880 If we had everything that Moses had in front of him, but what did what led Moses to make the decision? 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.200 Verse 27, by faith. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:07.920 I'm sorry, verse 26, let's start there. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:15.519 For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:17.200 Think about that. 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:29.680 He considered the reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead, there's hope, to the reward. 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:39.119 By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king's anger, for Moses preserved as one who sees him who persevered. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:45.359 I'm sorry, Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:54.000 By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:56.880 Friends, that's what hope does to someone. 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:00.880 That is what eternal hope does to the Christian. 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:04.720 It is reserved for us in heaven, but it shapes the way we live now. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:14.799 And what we learn from that example and just from our understanding of the gospel is that our salvation is so much more than being saved from hell and having our sins forgiven. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:16.160 So much more. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:17.599 Let me just give a few examples. 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:19.440 Don't try to turn to these because you're just going to miss. 00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:20.160 Just listen. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:22.000 1 Corinthians 2 9. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:34.000 Paul says, But as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived, God has prepared these things for those who love him. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:44.559 Yes, Christian, you are saved from God's wrath, but you are also saved to something far glorious and eternal waiting for you in heaven. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:52.960 First John 3, one through three, see what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God's children, and we are. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:35.920 That's what John is saying. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:39.119 One more, Romans 8, 18 and 25. 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:44.079 This is Paul who suffered much more than we likely ever will in our Christian lives. 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:51.519 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:58.880 Now, if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:09.920 A lot about the Christian faith has to do with eternity, has to do with patiently waiting for all of God's promises to be finalized in our lives. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:12.000 All right, this is a lot of hope talk. 00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:15.359 The question is, how do we grow in this type of hope? 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:22.319 How do we build our God-centered perspective of our of our eternal hope, the gift laid up for us in heaven? 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.119 And I would say the answer is you need to know your Bibles. 00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:33.039 The more you know your Bible, the deeper your love and appreciation for the hope laid up for you in heaven is. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:38.799 Paul says in Romans 15, 4, for whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction. 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:39.599 Why? 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:43.200 So that we Christians may have what? 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:44.559 Hope. 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:50.000 Through endurance and through the encouragement from the scriptures. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:52.079 Are you paying attention to Paul's words? 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:56.559 Hope and encouragement for endurance comes from knowing your Bible. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:58.400 Are you struggling to persevere? 00:32:58.640 --> 00:32:59.759 Are you discouraged? 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:01.680 Do you need encouragement? 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:10.720 Engage in the Word of God because it produces hope, endurance, and encouragement, which comes from the Scriptures. 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:15.039 You learn to hope by knowing the message of the Bible. 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:21.599 Hope does not come from motivational speeches or positive thinking or affirmations on your bathroom window. 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:25.359 It comes from God's promises in Scripture. 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:32.079 The more your Bible intake increases, the more you're shaped into the image of God, the more your mind is renewed. 00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:38.960 I'm not saying this is some magical incantation of just read a verse or a chapter and you're just gonna, you know, be sailing in your Christian walk. 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:42.960 But no, God has means by which he sanctifies his children. 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:48.400 And one of those means is through the Spirit illuminating his word to the hearts of his people. 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:50.640 So I say this with all love. 00:33:50.799 --> 00:34:05.519 If you feel like you are running your race and you're constantly discouraged, and you feel lacking in motivation, you feel a lack of joy, if you neglect the study of God's word, I'm not surprised. 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:11.519 Because Paul says, for whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction. 00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:21.519 So if you're not in God's word, you're not being instructed by God, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the scriptures. 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:25.039 So just a quick pastoral encouragement. 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:40.880 Going back to my marathon runner illustration, if you as a Christian feel like in your walk with Jesus, you're in your mile 20, where your spiritual muscles are aching and you feel like your body, your soul is telling you it's time to quit. 00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:41.920 This is too hard. 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:43.599 Let's just end the race. 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:45.360 I'm done battling sin. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:48.800 I'm done fighting, I'm done fighting discouragement and all these things. 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:52.239 I'm wondering if this is all even worth it. 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:55.039 Remember what's waiting for you. 00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:05.039 And praise be to God that when we stand before our Savior, we're not going to be judged primarily on, well, what was your joy in the process? 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:06.079 Right? 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:10.800 It's like, yeah, I mean, you were going to church, but like, man, you were like, you were complaining over here. 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:11.920 Remember that? 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.320 Jesus already knows all that. 00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:16.480 That's why he went to the cross. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:19.360 All the work, he did it. 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:26.000 We're not graded with some kind of rapport card where he's like, yeah, I know you did the right things and you did finish well, so well done. 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:29.760 However, let's talk about like your form when you were running. 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:30.239 Right? 00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:31.840 Your form was a little off over here. 00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:34.239 You know, you had the wrong arm leading and all this stuff. 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:34.800 No. 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:42.800 We are to remember what's laying ahead, what's laid ahead for us because our hope is reserved in heaven. 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:44.880 Turn to Philippians chapter 3 real quick. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:46.639 Let me illustrate this for you guys. 00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:48.880 Philippians chapter 3. 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:53.920 I don't know why I always gravitate towards Paul and Peter the most. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:57.679 I feel like they're just as jacked up as I am, so they they help me. 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:01.119 Philippians chapter 3, verses 7 through 15. 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:09.599 For those who are truly lay or committed to having a God-centered perspective of what's laid up for them in heaven, this is how you talk. 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:12.159 Philippians chapter 3, verse 7. 00:36:12.880 --> 00:36:22.239 Paul, speaking of his own faith, he says, But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:30.559 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:50.800 Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things, and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 00:36:51.440 --> 00:37:06.880 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. 00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:19.119 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:24.320 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do. 00:37:24.559 --> 00:37:33.199 Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. 00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:37.519 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:39.679 That's how we talk. 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:44.480