Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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Colossus, Chapter One, beginning in
verse one. Listen, for this is
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the word of the Lord Paul,
an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the
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will of God, and Timothy,
our brother to the Saints and Faithful Brothers
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in Christ at Coloss A. Grace
to you in peace, from God,
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our father. We always thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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when we pray for you, since
we heard of your faith in Christ
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Jesus and of the love that you
have for all the saints because of the
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hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in
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the word of truth, the Gospel, which has come to you, as
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indeed in the whole world. It
is bearing fruit and increasing, as it
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also does among you, since the
day you heard it and understood the grace
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of God in truth, just as
you learned it from Epaphrus, our beloved
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fellow servant. He is Faithful Minister
of Christ on your behalf and has made
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known to us your love in the
spirit that's for the reading of God's word.
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May he bless it to us.
Let's pray. Our gracious heavenly father,
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we do thank you for your word. We pray that you would give
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us eyes to see and ears to
hear the truths that you would have for
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us and the beauty that you have
for us in Christ. We pray this
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in Christ's name. Amen. Please
me seed it. What's been many months
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since I've been here, but but
the last time I was here we looked
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together at the first two verses of
Colossian's chapter one. And there, as
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we just read, these first two
verses where Paul is greeting the church at
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coloss a. These first two verses
may seem perfunctory, may they may seem
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just like a common, standard type
of greeting. And yet Paul's words of
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grace and peace from God to the
Church draw us right away into the heart
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of Paul's letter. I mean Paul's
writing as an ambassador of Jesus Christ.
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He's writing to the church at Colossa, who are saints, who are Holy
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Ones, who are faithful in Christ, and he's writing to deliver the very
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grace, the very peace of God
to this fellowship of Believers that's facing a
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dangerous teaching. And even though Paul
has never visited this church, he's heard
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a report about this church that is
both exceedingly joyful as well as concerning he's
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joyful, as will find out,
because of the Saints Reception of the Gospel.
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They are believing upon the Lord.
This church is growing in love.
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But this is also a young church
and it's facing opposition, and so he's
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writing not only to express his joy
but to further encourage, to instruct the
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Church in the Gospel. I mean, they've heard the Gospel, they've responded
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in faith, and yet the good
news of Christ is never old news for
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his people. To grow in our
love for Christ means we must know who
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he is, we must hear from
him and of his love for us.
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So, as Ambassador of Christ,
Paul Brings The word of Christ to this
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new church. He begins with this
announcement where he says grace and peace to
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you from God, our father,
and in this short letter which is saturated
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with the person and work of Christ. This short letter is placed in the
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context, then, of God's grace
and God's peace to his church. As
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Paul's words of comfort and instruction are
are coming to this church, we know
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that God is at work actually bringing
about grace and peace. These are not
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just wishful thoughts from the apostle.
This is the very reason. God's word
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has gone forth and his word does
not return empty. The God who spoke
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creation into existence by his word continues
to send forth his word to accomplish his
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purposes. And so look at the
way in which the Lord Actually Brings Grace
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and peace to his people. As
Paul says in verse three, we always
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thank God, the father of our
Lord, Jesus Christ, when we pray
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for you. Now, while Paul
Typically begins his letters with a note of
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thanks Thanksgiving, these are not simple
formalities. What Paul is doing here is
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he is inviting the church into his
prayer life, not only in offering US
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instructions on how we ought to pray
for one another, but in order for
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us to see what love and what
concern he has for the church. And,
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as we see, this isn't just
a one time prayer. This thankfulness
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is continual. Not only are his
prayers frequent, they are they reflect this
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perpetual mindset, for this young church
is against real dangers. It's up against
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powerful foes, and so Paul is
thankful for the Lord's work and bringing grace
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and bringing peace to this church.
The Lord's been doing great things. Just
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look at what he's thankful for.
He says. We always thank God,
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the father of our Lord, Jesus
Christ, when we pray for you,
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since we heard of your faith in
Christ, Jesus and of the love that
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you have for all the saints,
because of the hope laid up for you
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in heaven. So the grace and
peace of God has brought forth a response
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from this church. It's brought forth
faith, love, faith right in Christ,
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love for the saints. pree see, because of God's grace and peace,
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the one gives rise to the other. Having responded to the Gospel in
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faith, these believers respond then to
the church. The respond to the church
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with love, which may sound obvious, but look at the bonds here that
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are being forged here. Paul's already
called God our father. And what did
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he just call Christ our Lord.
And so by calling God our father,
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don't you hear our it immediately puts
us into a community, into a family.
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By calling Christ our Lord, it
immediately places us into a community,
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into a kingdom, and to a
family and into a kingdom this faith.
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In it it places us into the
fellowship of fellow believers where love is what
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defines who we are. Love defines
our lives, and Paul is thankful because
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he's heard of their faith in Christ. He's heard of their love for the
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saints. Remember what that word Saint
Means. This is how our Lord describes
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his people. He calls the church
saints because Saint Means Holy Ones, and
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so this church is bearing fruit in
their love for the saints. But do
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you realize the significance of this statement
for us? Here we're show not only
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what the churches to believe, but
but what the church is to do.
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Faith in Christ will produce love for
the saints, which means that not only
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has the Lord called You holy,
he calls you to love others whom he
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has also called Holy. That I
know what you're thinking. If believers actually
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are holy ones of the Lord,
then why are they so frequently so difficult
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to love? Loving a holy person
should be easy, right. Think of
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how easy would be to serve and
care for someone who is always grateful,
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who's never rude, never arrogant,
someone who's tender and and easy to get
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along with, who always speaks with
grace, who are selfless, bringing joy
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and comfort for others. Loving for
a person like that would be incredibly easy.
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So why is loving others in the
church some of the most challenging work
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that we can do. We're given
this amazing title. God calls you the
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holy and yet the more we see
of one another, as we spend time
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with one another, as we open
our homes and our lives to one another,
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loving the church is not always easy
because frequently we don't always look that
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holy. Our lives are messy,
so we fear judgment. Other lives are
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messy, so we feel unequipped.
And yet we're called to love difficult people.
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You see, Paul isn't thankful that
the Colossians Love Saints as opposed to
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sinners? After all, Jesus and
his sermon on the Mount tells us that
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if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do
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not even tax collectors do the same, and you greet only your brothers.
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What more you doing than others?
Do not even the gentiles do the same?
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So Paul is thankful for their love
for all the saints, and Paul,
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of all people, knows that the
church doesn't always look that saintly.
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After all, Paul's the one who
says in First Timothy One hundred and fifteen,
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the saying is trustworthy and deserving of
full acceptance, that Christ, Jesus,
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came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
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And yet these Colossians, they love
these difficult people, these sinners,
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saints both near and far from coloss
a free notice. Their love is not
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being displayed because of the holiness of
the church. Look what Paul says.
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They're not loving the saints because they
are holy and therefore easy to love.
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They do love the saints, but
why? First five because of the hope
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laid up for you in heaven.
Isn't this wonderfully comforting? They love the
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saints not based off, I'm not
on the basis of some lovely qualities of
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those around them. They love the
saints because, in faith and in hope,
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they see the Church as God does. Sinners saved by grace, sinners
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declared righteous and holy. And this
is so true. The reason we're called
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to love others is because Christ first
loved us. Jesus loves sinners, Jesus
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loves you. So you're called to
love sinners, but not us. How
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much more there is to what Paul's
words say here? How thus adds to
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our understanding Jesus loved sinners so much
that he actually redeemed us. He justified
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his people. His church is righteous
because his church is in Christ. And
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God looks at his church and he
sees the perfect obedience of Jesus in each
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one of us. And so your
status before God is holy. But look
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around. Is this how you see
your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do
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you actually see them as being in
Christ? And if we are in Christ,
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let me ask you this. Is
Jesus difficult to love? Is His
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life a mess? Does he hold
grudges? Is He kind of awkward?
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No, he's patient, he's full
of grace. We love him because he
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actually is lovely. He's demonstrated that
love for us more than we could ever
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repay. And so if you see
yourselves seated with Christ in the heavenly places,
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then do you see your brothers and
sisters in the same way? Yes,
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we're called to love sinners, even
enemies and those who persecute us,
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but when we love the church,
it's different. Here we love the saints,
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God's Holy Ones, not because they're
easy to love, but because they
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belong to Christ. And if we
love Christ, then we love his people,
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and this love doesn't spring from the
holiness that we see around us.
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This love is on account of the
hope laid up for us in heaven.
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But, you see, the church
is wholly only on account of this hope.
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And yet it's called a hope laid
up for you in heaven because we
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do not yet see it, it
hasn't yet become a full reality. As
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Peter says in his first epistle,
chapter one, verse three, blessed be
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the God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. According to his great
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mercy, he has caused us to
be born again to a living hope,
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through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, to an inheritance that is
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imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept
in heaven for you, who, by
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God's power, are being guarded through
faith for a salvation ready to be revealed
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in the last time. So we
love The saints because Christ's love for his
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church. We love the saints because
they belong to Christ and he dwells in
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them. And we love the saints
on account of this living hope of who
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we all be will be on the
day of the resurrection, because on that
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day there will be no more fear, no more grudges, no more messes.
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On that day, the sinner saints
who surround you will be truly and
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finally just saints. And so we
don't hold back on our love for one
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another, waiting for that last day. Right now, we love all the
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saints because of who they've been declared
to be in Christ and because of who
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they will be on that last day. For this hope is both a present
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and a future reality. While this
living hope is laid up for us in
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heaven, awaiting its future, revealing
this hope is a present reality, as
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we will hear later, encouragements in
Colossians chapter three, as Paul, speaking
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to this same church, says,
if, then, you've been raised with
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Christ, seek the things that are
above where Christ is seated the right hand
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of God, and so loving the
saints is a way of seeking Christ,
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for it acts on the present reality
of our status in Christ, as it
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expects and waits for this future hope. And so the hope that we rely
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upon, the hope that Paul describes
here, is not a fickle or a
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wavering wishing for things right. We
use them, we use hope all kinds
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of different ways. Today, we
use hope to express our desires for the
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future. Some desires may be more
likely than others. Hope you have a
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good day, hope you have a
safe drive. Others can be more far
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fetched. But this hope described by
Paul is not an inner attitude of optimism.
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It's not a longing or a wishing
against the forces of time and decay.
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As Paul says elsewhere, in Romans
Eight, Chapter Eight, Verse Twenty
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Three, not only the creation but
we ourselves who have the first fruit of
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the spirit grown inwardly, as we
wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the
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redemption of our bodies, for in
this hope we were saved. Now,
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hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees?
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But we hope for what we do
not see. We wait for it
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with patience. Again in Galatians chapter
five, listen for what this hope looks
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like, for through the spirit,
by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for
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the hope of righteousness. And so, while we do hope for that which
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we do not yet see, this
doesn't make the out come uncertain. Rather,
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we're called to eagerly wait for our
hope to become sight. Don't you
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see, then, the way of
patience and eager expectation of the resurrection?
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What does that look like here in
now? It looks like faith in Christ.
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It looks like love for the saints. For how do we patiently wait
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for the resurrection? By loving Christ, who is faithful not just to individuals
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but to a body of believers.
How do we love because of this hope?
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We love by seeing one another the
way God sees us, saints who
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have been given an eternal inheritance in
heavenly places, the weak and the frail,
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brothers and sisters sitting beside you and
in your own families, you can
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love not just because Christ loved you, but because Christ loves them. So
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we're called to love the saints.
And wouldn't it be great if we were
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already perfectly holy? And yet,
if this is how God has described you,
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if he's the one declaring you to
be a saint and a holy one,
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then who are we to respond?
And Yeah, but they're kind of
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hard to get along with. My
Christ has claimed this person for himself,
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and so we love the church by
loving those Christ has called to himself.
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We love Christ by loving those whom
Christ dwells within. And so speaking of
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this faith, this love and this
hope, Paul continues in this introduction of
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this you've heard before in the word
of truth, the Gospel, which has
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come to you, as indeed in
the whole world, it is bearing fruit
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and increasing, as it also does
among you, since the day you heard
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of it and understood the grace of
God in truth, just as you learned
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it from Epaphorus, our beloved fellow
servant. He is a Faithful Minister of
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Christ on your behalf and has made
known to us your love in the spirit.
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There's a whole lot that could be
unpacked there, but I want to
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focus on this word love that shows
up again in verse eight. Do you
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see how God is not abandoned us
at any moment in this process of our
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loving one another? It's His grace
that's gone forth. In truth, it's
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his truth, the good news of
Christ, which has been bearing the fruit
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of faith, love and hope.
And now this same love for all the
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saints is described as your love and
verse eight, in the spirit. This
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is so awesome. I mean,
as we've seen, you're calling to love.
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The church is not based on the
loveliness of the saints. It's based
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on the loveliness of Christ, who
unites himself to his church. And yet
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Paul takes it even further here in
Verse Eight, when he says that the
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love for the church, that your
love for the saints, occurs in the
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spirit. It means that the love
that you share is not your own.
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The love that your share is itself
a gift, a gift from God himself,
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and when the church loves one another, the church gets to participate in
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that love that exists between father son
and Holy Spirit. This is why Paul
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is thanking God for the Church's faith, love and hope. The life of
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the church, the life together,
is an act of our triune God.
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Let us have all three persons are
already listed. We always thank God,
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the father of our Lord, Jesus
Christ, for your love in the spirit.
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Speaking of that love, as Paul
references faith, hope and love,
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he does so elsewhere in a famous
passage, First Corinthians, chapter thirteen,
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where he says for now we see
in a mirror dimly, but then face
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to face. Now I know in
part. Then I shall know fully,
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even as I have been fully known
now. Faith, hope and love abide.
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These three but the greatest of these
is love. Have you ever wondered
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why? Faith? Faith is this
instrument that saves us from our sin,
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right hope in the resurrection. These
are glorious things. What makes love better
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than these other two? Well,
one day your faith will become sight right,
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one day your hope will become a
reality, will be fully realized.
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But the love, the love that
has always existed among father, son and
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Holy Spirit, is eternal. It
will never end, and it is this
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love which has been given to us
from the father, in the son,
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by the Holy Spirit. The love
of God, defines our lives, both
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here and in eternity, and so
of course it's bearing fruit, of course
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it's increasing, as God draws us
to himself, he draws us to a
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body, a family, to a
kingdom that shall have no end, whose
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love shall have no end. Amen, let's pray, our gracious heavenly father.
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We are humbled. We are humbled
by your love. We do thank
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you for your love, which which
creates love in us, which creates life
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in us, which creates light righteousness
in us. Your Word is wonderful and
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we ask that your word would cause
your people to be drawn to the loveliness
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of our savior. As we see
your grace, as we see your mercy
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to your people, cause us to
further glorify your triune name. Would you
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thank you for your Gospel, which
which produces the fruits of faith and love,
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because of the hope laid up for
us in heaven? For as we
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long for our faith to become sight, as we long for our hope to
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become manifest, cause your love to
abide in your people, both now and
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forever. We pray this in Jesus
name. Amen.
