This past summer Rod MacLeod, soon to go to Africa to fly missionaries, flew me to Connecticut. Rod has done this many times and, during those times I have had opportunity to note something: Before take-off Rod would go through an automatic checklist. We never took to the skies until that checklist was completed. Understand that and you´ll begin to get the impact of Colossians 1: 3-5, “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your FAITH in Christ Jesus, and of the LOVE which ye have to all saints, for the HOPE which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”
This Biblical paragraph simply says: Before you get involved in reaching the world with the Gospel make sure YOU have been reached. In other words, don´t attempt the instruction of Colossians 1:8-11 until you have reviewed the Biblical check list.
FAITH - How to get started - vs. 4a
HOPE - How to know you got started - vs. 5
LOVE - What is possible because you got started - vs. 4b
Vance Havner, the Will Rogers of the Christian pulpit once said - “Many talk about going out on the limb but they have never climbed the tree.” II Corinthians 13:5 states, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.” Now add I Corinthians 15:2 which speaks of the people who have believed in vain. I Corinthians 15:17 describes these people as the ones who have omitted “sin” from their vocabulary. Our message is the Gospel and the fact Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. The bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ is proof that God the Father accepted this as full payment.
I Corinthians 15:17 ties all of this into one package so the warning is obvious. A false Gospel may speak about coming to Christ but sin and the cross-work of Christ are always omitted. Beware! And note the checklist:
I. FAITH - HOW TO GET STARTED -
VS. 4
Now faith must have an object. Those with genuine faith have made the Lord Jesus Christ the object of their faith. Nothing is clearer than Acts 16:31: “And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house.” After we make Jesus Christ the object of our faith then the Word of God becomes the object of our faith as Romans 10:17 states: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
Let me stop here and refer to “The Baptist Who Went to Hell.” This is the title of a message I preached for Jack Wyrtzen at Word of Life when they were broadcasting Saturday nights from the boathouse on the Island at Schroon Lake. My text was Acts 8:13: “Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.”
I clearly remember doing that. (Why is it we can go into that kind of recall yet forget something that happened yesterday? Don´t write me because I know why!)
The key to the passage is Acts 8:20 where Peter said, “Your money PERISH WITH YOU because you thought the gift of God could be purchased with money.” What went wrong? After all, Acts 8:13 states that Simon “believed” and was baptized! What then is missing? The answer is found in Acts 8:18-19 where we are told that Simon came to God with the wrong motive. Read it. “And when Simon saw that through laying on the apostles´ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.” We should all ask this important question - Why did I come to Christ? Wanting to go to heaven is certainly an understandable motive but that is not a motive God accepts. There is only one; namely the recognition of our complete ruin in sin and God´s perfect remedy in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:14 makes it clear that God demands something we do not have - perfection. We have to admit our helplessness and then according to
I Corinthians 1:30 recognize that Jesus Christ is the only source of that righteousness. Examine those two texts carefully. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”(Hebrews 12:14) “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (I Corinthians 1:30)
The personality of Acts 8:13 failed to recognize that he was a sinner and therefore he becomes an example of someone who believes in vain. (I Corinthians 15:2) and he also flunks the exam of II Corinthians 13:5.
II. HOPE - HOW TO KNOW YOU GOT STARTED CORRECTLY - VS. 5
The second component in the triad of Christian virtues is hope, Colossians 1:5: "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of truth of the gospel."
Right after I was ordained, the very first funeral I had to conduct was that of my mother. Not easy but I did realize the impact of our hope. Let me explain. I used my mother´s Bible in the service and took note of what she wrote in a margin. Beside I John 5:13 she wrote, “I know I´m saved.” This certainly is our hope and her positive involvement in that made the service a commencement and not a funeral. Needless to say it was the major factor in my finding the strength to conduct the service.
Hear it! One of the first marks of genuine faith is the fact we have certainty. We know we´ll be in heaven. Hope produces very, very positive results. For example, read I Peter 1:4-5 where we have our future described: “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Now what happens when this truth takes hold? The answer is I Peter 1:6-7: “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
Do you have the kind of hope we are studying? If there are some doubts call us and ask for two cassettes: “Explaining Christianity” and “Decision Determines Destiny.”
III. LOVE - WHAT IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE YOU STARTED CORRECTLY? - VS. 4B
“Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have to all the saints..” Colossians 1:4. The reference of course directs us to I Corinthians 13. But note what happens when the Holy Spirit applies the truth …”Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for ALL the saints.”
One word should bring conviction and it is the word ALL. Begin with Romans 5:5 and then take the test of Ephesians 4:32. This will lead us to the solid conviction that when disunity reigns we are dealing with people who do not have the Holy Spirit or people who are not controlled by the spirit. Let me rephrase this. The Holy Spirit in me is not going to fight the Holy Spirit in you unless... 1. We do not have the Holy Spirit or, 2. We are not controlled by the Holy Spirit
The triad of Colossians 1:4-5 is a great example of Ephesians 2:10 (the fact we are saved by a faith that works).
FAITH - HOPE - LOVE
APPLICATION – A Concern: As we approach Thanksgiving 2000 will you keep us in your prayers and send a special Thanksgiving gift to help us add more stations that we may thereby teach Divine Viewpoint to a greater number. The problem is that when we let apathy rule and do nothing, the enemy has free reign. Rev. Ralph Sexton, Jr. who heads up a North Carolina based group called “We Pray” said this in the Wall Street Journal : “First prayer was banned from our schools, followed by an end to Bible reading and the removal of the Ten Commandments. Graduation invocations came next, and now pro-football prayer. This has occurred while groups dedicated to causes such as animal and gay rights have enjoyed widening public access. Why has God gotten the pink slip? Christianity is under attack by those who do not practice the tolerance they preach."
Martin Luther once said, “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works; evil works do not make a wicked man, but a wicked man does evil works.” Our mandate is clear. Read II Timothy 4:2 and be assured that your gift marked “Thanksgiving Offering” will be a gift of eternal value as we continue to expand our reach with the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bring the message of FAITH, HOPE and LOVE to a world that desperately needs to hear it. - JDD
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