TEXT: Colossians 1:3-8

SUBJECT: Exposition of Colossians #2: Thanksgiving

Today, with God's blessing, we will continue our study of Colossians. Thus far, we've gotten the background: The author is Paul who wrote it from a prison in Rome. He sent it to a church in Colossae, a small group of believers who met in Philemon's house. He wrote it to refute an error that was shaking their faith. What was it? It was attaching human wisdom with the Gospel of Christ. Are the two agreeable? No they're not. Can we get along without human wisdom? Yes we can, for Christ is Enough!

That's the theme of Colossians. It should be every believer's motto. If we have Christ, we can say with Esau, "I have enough, my brother, keep what you have for yourself".

In vv.3-8, we have "the giving of thanks".

TO WHOM THEY GAVE THANKS

Paul and Timothy "Give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". Paper was expensive in those days and writers didn't waste it with needless words. Paul might have said "God" and left it there. But he didn't. He must emphasize the character of his God. What is God? The Westminster Divines said, He is

"A Spirit, infinite, eternal

and unchangeable in His being

wisdom, power, holiness, justice,

goodness and truth".

They're right of course. God is such a Being. But Paul makes it more personal. The Being He invokes is "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". In other words, He is the Invisible God who became visible in Christ. In the words of Ambrose, He is

"The Father imaged in the Son".

Do you know God in this way? You know things about Him--His attributes, titles, and so on. But isn't there a difference between knowing things about someone and knowing him? I know quite a few things about Martin Luther, but I don't know the man. God doesn't want you to know Him the way I know Luther. He wants you to know Him personally. He can be known in only one way: In His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. "Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father".

Look at Christ. As a man, He is knowable. And in knowing Him, you know the Father.

HOW OFTEN THEY GAVE THANKS

Paul and Timothy "gave thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". How often did they do it? When everything was going well, of course! When they heard especially good news about their brethren! Right? Wrong. Things were not going well. Paul was in chains. Nor had the report from Colossae been entirely positive.

Yet Paul is "giving thanks...always". Some years before, he had preached, "In everything give thanks". Now he was practicing it.

There is no wrong time for giving thanks! Psalm 92:1-2. God's grace is often most evident on the worst days. Sitting on an ash heap that was once the capital of Israel, Jeremiah sang,

"Through the LORD's mercies

we are not consumed;

Because His compassions

fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness".

Giving thanks is a good thing. It's good for God because, well, He deserves to be thanked at all times. It is also good for you as it focuses you on "things above" rather than on "things below". It is also good for others, for it rebukes their murmuring and encourages them to look at things more positively. And join you in God's praise.

Paul's example should inspire us to "Offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name" (Hebrews 13:15).

FOR WHAT ARE THEY GIVING THANKS?

Paul and Timothy are "thanking God...always". What for? The Colossian believers.

Why? For two reasons: They "have faith in Christ" and they "have love for all the saints". These are Paul's priorities. Why? Because they're most important.

You can be wrong on many things and still please God and make it to heaven. But you can't be wrong on these. Listen to John: "And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave us commandment" (I John 3:23).

Are these your priorities?

Are they your personal priorities? I know you pray for health and work, and other good things. But how often do you pray for "faith and love"? How often do you confess your lack thereof? You feel awful about breaking a "commandment". Do you feel half as badly about your unbelief or unloving ways?

Are they our church priorities? We all agree that improvement is needed. But where is it most needed? A bigger building? More elders? Better offerings? All of these are good, but not of central importance. Here's where we need to improve most: In faith and love.

That's something you can do. You don't have to wait for the pastor to act or the deacons to do something or the church to change its policy. You can increase your faith and love right now. With no one's permission but God's. So do it! That's what we need most. Our priorities must be faith and love.

Speaking of love, look at this: it was for "all the saints". Not just those who agreed with you or who belonged to your church or who had congenial personalities. No! They loved the saints because they were saints. No other reason was needed then. Or now.

"Brotherly love" is based on what? Belonging to the same family. Which all believers do. Insofar as they are saved, Arminians and Calvinists belong to the same family. So do Paedobaptists and Baptists. And others, whose ways we can't agree with. Yet, if they're "saints" they have a claim on our love.

WHAT PROMPTED THIS LOVE?

What moved these believers to "love all the saints"? We needn't guess. V.5 tells us: "Because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven".

This is worth thinking about. It wasn't the Law that made them loving. It commands love but can't produce it. It was peer pressure that made them loving, either. For it can only affect actions and not the heart.

No, it was the "hope of heaven" that got them to "love all the saints".

What does this mean? Something like this: Who's going to heaven? All believers. Why are they going to heaven? Because Christ "loved them and gave Himself for them". Now, if I'm thinking about how much Christ loved you and what price He paid to redeem you, I'm hard pressed to not love you. No! We ignore and mistreat each other only insofar as we forget who they are: "Brethren beloved of the Lord".

WHERE DID THEY GET THIS HOPE?

The Colossians had a "hope laid up for them in heaven". Where did they find this hope? "In the word of the truth of the Gospel".

Their "hope" was not wishful thinking, but a real, objective thing communicated through the Gospel. The Gospel produced "fruit" in them and everywhere it is preached.

It made the Thessalonians, for example, "Turn from their idols to serve the Living and True God and to wait for His Son from heaven..."

It made the Ephesians burn their books on witchcraft and to fear God more than the spirits.

It made Zacchaeus give half his goods to the poor and repay anyone he cheated four-fold.

It turned a "blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man" into "the servant of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ".

This is what the Gospel has done to others. What has it done to you? Has it made "all things new"? Has it made you "a new creature in Christ Jesus"?

The Gospel transforms everyone who believes. Has it transformed you? If so, thank God. But if not, believe the Gospel.

WHO PREACHED TO THEM?

Where did the Colossians first hear the Gospel? Not from Paul; he had never been there. They heard it from Paul's friend and colleague, "Epaphras".

Who's he? Here's what we know: He was a Colossian who came to faith in Christ and shared "the good news" with his friends and neighbors. Later he was jailed for his faith. That's how committed he was to Christ and his people. He was "a servant of Christ on [their] behalf".

What else did he do? He prayed earnestly for them (cf. 4:12) and told Paul how much they loved him.

Thus, Paul was not unique. He loved the Colossians whom he hadn't met. And they loved him. Before it was written, they accepted the Apostle's Creed,

"I believe in the communion

of saints".

Or better still, they obeyed their Lord and Savior who said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another" (John 15:12).

The Colossians loved Paul "in the Spirit".

Some commentators take this to mean: they loved him from the heart. That is possible. But I suspect it means more than that: I think it means they loved Him with more than a human affection. They loved him with a love born of God's Spirit in their souls.

CLOSE

That is the thanksgiving. May God make us more thankful than we are. For Christ's sake. Amen.