The Gospel Of The King

You're listening to a sermon from Grace Church in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where we believe in grace for all. If you'd like more information about us, please find us at ygrace.org. Well, good morning. Good morning.

Good morning. All right. As we begin this morning, it's a pleasure to see all of you.

So we're going to hop right in, why waste time. So for the next couple of weeks, actually for the rest of the year, we're going to dive into a series called Kingdom. For the rest of the year, I want to circle in on what God presents through his word as his kingdom.

And the first series in this kingdom series is actually the Book of Colossians, and we're calling it the Supreme King. Because if we're going to understand what the kingdom is, we first need to understand who is the king of this kingdom. So here's the big idea that Paul presents in Colossians.

Paul is writing, because context matters. Here's our context. Paul is writing to a church that he has never been to, and a church he hasn't planted.

Paul right now is under Roman custody. He's in jail, and a man comes to him by the name of Epaphras, who has started this church. So Epaphras has heard the gospel, come to believe it, gathered his neighbors in the households around him, and now he is leading this church of about 45 people.

But there's a problem, and he's struggling. So when in Rome, he meets with a friend who's like, hey, I can bring you to Paul. And he goes to Paul and lays out what the problems are, what the situations are, and then he goes on his way, and Paul writes him a letter for all of this church.

He actually writes two. He writes this letter in Colossians, and then he writes a letter to Philemon, who is the man whose house they currently meet in, and we'll jump into that one at the end of the year as well. But in Colossians, Paul is writing to his church because he needs to emphasize two things to these believers.

One, that Christ is supreme, that he is supreme over all of their lives, every facet of their lives, and then he needs them to understand that Christ is sufficient, because the problem with the Colossian church, the problem that these believers are running into is they're running into additional Christianity. They've run into the situation where they have come to know Jesus in a real tangible way. They are believers fully, but somewhere along the way, they've bought into mysticism where Jesus isn't enough.

So they start adding. And before you know it, is a church that fully believes in Jesus, but also believes in all these other little things that society around them is presenting to them. It's called pluralism.

They start to believe in pluralism, where Jesus is enough, but we just need just a little bit more, which raises the question to you this morning. Most people think that the gospel is a doorway into Christianity. Paul reminds us, we're gonna be jumping into verses one through 14.

Paul reminds the church in Colossae that the gospel is just not how we begin a Christian life, but it is also how we continue into a Christian life. The gospel is good news that a king has come, a kingdom has been established, and those that are in him have everything they need. So this morning, our big idea is you already have everything you need.

If you grab your Bibles, we'll be in the CSB, so you'll have to work with me. We'll be in Colossians one through 14. We're gonna hit a couple of stops here, but here's the roadmap we're gonna take.

Three points for you this morning. That was four, here's three. The gospel creates a kingdom people, the gospel grows kingdom citizens, and the gospel secures a kingdom blessing.

Here's a reading of God's word. Paul says, Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ, by God's will, and Timothy, our brother. Right there, real quick, let's jump right into verse one, right? Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ, by God's will.

Paul, before he even jumps in to telling these people anything, to any type of correction, to any type of conversation, he reminds them by which he has come with authority by saying, by God's will. It's not Paul's will, mind you, he's never been to this church. Now, they know of Paul, he's kind of a Christian celebrity, but he has never been to this church.

Epaphras has been the faithful servant preaching the gospel to these people and seeking their spiritual growth. Paul writes to them, automatically facilitating his authority to speak into their lives. He says, a apostle of Christ Jesus, by God's will.

To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters, grace and peace from God, our Father. He joins them into the Christian community of unity. Mind you, these are people that are starting to stray from the gospel.

He says, faithful brothers and sisters. God, our Father, he brings them in close into the tent of the family of believers. Verse three.

The next three verses, three to eight, Paul gives thanks for these believers. Verse three, we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all of the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.

You have already heard this about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. Check this out, right here. The gospel that has come to you bearing fruit and growing all over the world.

Man, when the gospel comes, it bears fruit and it grows wild. Imagine this, the most prolific church planner in the New Testament is writing to a church that he had nothing to do with. Most of our New Testament is written by Paul.

Here he writes to a church where the gospel has taken root in people's lives and he has done nothing. He has done nothing. God has miraculously moved in a way and he just gets to bear some spiritual fruit.

He gets to put his fingerprints on what God's doing. How exciting for Paul. Sit, that has come to you, it is bearing fruit, growing all over the world just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came into true appreciation of God's grace.

Seven, you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. In SB 95, it says, a fellow slave to Christ, which is a unique phrase that Paul only uses for a handful of people, most exclusively himself. There are only a few men that Paul considers slaves in the manner that he is a slave to Christ.

So when he writes to them and he tells them how highly he thinks of Epaphras, he also communicates this sense of sensible authority among their leader. He prefaces by kind of going, hey, I know I'm Paul, but man, you got someone fantastic here leading you. He is a wonderful, man, I love Epaphras.

You should love Epaphras too. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has told us about your love in the spirit. So point one, the gospel creates a kingdom people.

Paul thanks God because the gospel is already producing love, faith, and hope amongst the Colossians. Whether the gospel takes root, it doesn't just create believers, it creates peoples whose whole lives are now transformed and enveloped in who the king is. Look at this, he says that the hope, verse five, because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.

You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. My friends, the only way people can hear the gospel is if someone brings it to them. Epaphras at some point hears the gospel of Jesus Christ, believes on the gospel, and is so enveloped in the goodness of God that it wells up within him.

And before you know it, 45 people are meeting in three house churches, hearing the goodness of God. When the gospel takes root, when the gospel spreads, it doesn't just stay with you and I, it's not just a me sport. I heard someone say one time, it's so good, the gospel, when it takes root, the heart of it, when it envelops a soul, is very personal, but never individualistic, it is immensely personal.

Your savior has gone to the cross to uniquely die for you, to welcome you into his kingdom, but then it is never personal, it is supposed to spread, it's supposed to overflow within you, casting seeds all about your life, so that other people can come into an understanding of who Jesus is, a kingdom built on its king. Here we go, verse nine and 11, this is what Paul prays for these believers for. He says, for this reason also, I think that's so important, because he builds off of his thanksgiving.

He is so immensely grateful for what God is doing, for how they're growing, for how they're loving one another, he even distinctly says that they are known because of their love, but then he hits them with, for this reason also. He pivots, man, this is amazing, this is great, I love what God's doing here, but because God is doing such an amazing thing, you also need to hear this. For this reason also, since the day we heard, we have not stopped praying for you.

We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will. And if you're wondering in the Greek, it is the same will that he uses in verse one. Not just the knowledge of what God wants, but rather the knowledge and understanding to step into God's will.

The knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him. He says, when you come to a full knowledge of God's will, it all builds off of each other. Also the deep appreciation of God's grace, right? These are components, they're like Lego pieces, they build off of each other.

They complete a picture of what Paul is saying here. And all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him. Here's a good part.

Here's what's fully pleasing. Bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the father who has enabled you to share in the saints inheritance in the light. There's a lot there.

There's a good amount there. Here's what's important. Spiritual maturity is growing into being fully pleasing to God.

I don't know about you, you're all looking at me, so I'll take the blame. There's some days that I don't think I'm fully pleasing to God. I think it's safe to say there are days when we ourselves don't think that we are fully pleasing to God.

Paul prays that we will be filled with God's knowledge and will so that we can walk worthy of this inheritance, so that we can walk fully into the knowledge and understanding in the acceptance of God's grace amongst us. What I think is important is he doesn't lay out a list of things for people to do next. Rather, in 11, he says, giving thanks, right here, 12.

Look at this with me. Giving thanks to the father who has enabled you. Last time I was with you, we talked about how it's not work more, but rather it is resting in who Christ is and seeing the fruit grow out of the abundance of who Christ is.

Paul, once again, writes to his church that believes that they need to add things to the gospel. And he says, listen, the knowledge that you're seeking, this understanding, the mysticism that society is reaching out to you with, it is fully 100% fulfilled in the knowledge and the growing of the things of God. And not only is it fulfilled in that, he has already enabled your heart to pursue it.

Paul writes to them because it is fundamentally important for them to understand that they need to mature. They're looking, realistically, they are believers looking for what the next thing is, what's the next level, what's the next big thing that'll take my faith or this Jesus thing to its most peak moment. And we also live in a society like that.

When you get a job, it's not that you're good enough. Now you need to prove that you're good enough. When you achieve something, it's not that that achievement is just good enough.

Now you need to earn it. I'm a big MMA and like fight fan. And they always say your first title defense is your heat check on whether you deserve to be the champion or not.

Because if you can't defend it once, then you're probably won by a fluke, right? Think about this. You have scrapped and fought. You have suffered bloody noses.

I'm in the MMA. So arm bars, leg locks, all that good stuff. You've done all of that.

You've beat people. And now you stand at the pinnacle with the title in your hand. And some guy like me, who's not in the cage goes, yeah, but can you defend it? It's not good enough.

There's always this next level that has to be achieved. That's what the church in Colossi is falling for. They have heard the gospel.

They have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they go, yeah, but there's gotta be more. There's gotta be more.

There's gotta be a little something extra I could throw in here. Man, Jesus plus this will really get the gears turning. The gospel plus this will really, really make Colossi change.

No, Paul writes to them once again. He says, we are asking. He's petitioning God that these believers may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that they may walk worthy of the Lord.

My friends, in their pursuit of walking worthy in the Lord or our pursuit of spiritual maturity, the question is, where are you seeking to be matured? Is it in what more you can do or what more you can accomplish or how you can be perceived to be more Christian? Or is it rather how much deeper and how further into God's will and his word and the things of Christ can I get into? That's Paul's prayer for them. He doesn't even necessarily pray that they stop being pluralist. He prays that they would step into the fullness of the knowledge and the will of God because if they're stepping in pursuing the fullness of the knowledge and the will of God, the pluralism falls.

Because when Christ becomes your greatest thing, everything else falls into its proper place as lesser things. Paul knows this. Paul knows that if these believers in Colossi get to a point where Christ is so amazing and so astonishing and so simplistic, we'll get into it.

But there's a part in here where Paul basically says, God is the God of the ordinary. One of my favorite books of the Bible is Ruth. There's no miracle in Ruth.

There's no bolts or sign or wonder. No, it's just a love story. It's just two people falling in love and God using their love to birth Obed who birthed David.

But it's simplistic. Paul writes to these believers because they're so caught up in what's the next big thing. I've heard something amazing.

He wants them to get into the simple things. Sit at God's feet. The sitting at God's feet is just as amazing as the miracles.

Verse 13, he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the son he loves. In him, we have redemption in the forgiveness of sins. Here's my third point.

The gospel secures a kingdom blessing. So he builds off of first, the gospel will take root and it will grow. And then second, gospel people, kingdom people need to grow not just in number, but also in qualitative depth of knowing Christ in their soul.

And then second kingdom people, right? Receive a blessing. Read that again with me. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his son he loves.

And in him, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Paul reminds us and reminds them what God has already done. He has already qualified, he has already rescued, he has already transferred, redeemed and forgiven them.

Christians do not fight for acceptance in the kingdom. They live from the acceptance already secured by the king. Paul gives them this reminder that everything necessary for a kingdom led life has already been provided to you.

There's no need for pluralism. There's no need for anything extra. It's already 100% fulfilled.

Once again, I go back to the verse that says he enables them. It's fulfilled, it's done. It's finished.

He has risen with all power, authority, all of those things fully and adequately seated at the right hand of the father making intercession for the church in Colossae and you and I for all of eternity, you are 100% secured in Christ. If you're exploring the themes of Christ, I invite you into this invitation of security. Here's the thing.

Notice that Paul doesn't merely say that we've been forgiven. He says that we've been transferred into the kingdom of the son. Uniquely enough, he clarifies and quantifies it like right off the rip.

He says that you were rescued from darkness, transferred into the light of the kingdom and by which you have forgiveness of your sins. Think about that. God has already saved you, secured you, moved you out of your sin and then he forgives you.

Man, think of the whole totality of that. The burdens of your sin that weigh you down, Christ has already forgiven them on the cross, it's done. The shame of the sin that you won't even speak about, Christ has already forgiven you, it's done.

You should live a life free from the burdens of your sin. Why is this important? Because such a great freedom makes you wanna tell people. Holistic, goes right back.

Such a great transfer and rescue makes you wanna tell people and makes you want people to experience the same mercy, the same grace that Christ has extended to you which brings us back to verse 13 through 10 where the gospel takes root because the truth has been spoken. There's truth of freedom. There are people who need freedom.

There are people who need grace. There are people who need to hear what God has done in your life, the testimony of that truth, right? So that they too can hear the truth of the gospel, learn of the knowledge of his will and the wisdom and the spiritual secrets and mysteries, right? And by that which their heart will turn towards their savior and then verse 13, and he will rescue them from domain of darkness and he will transfer them into the kingdom of the son whom he loves and he will redeem them and they will have forgiveness for their sins. Think about that.

Think of what a great redemption it is. Here's the bottom line. The gospel is good news that Jesus is king and because he is our king, we spiritually lack nothing.

Your belly should be full. And if it's not, the beauty of it is there's a buffet of the goodness of God in his word. Eternally fulfilled, eternally transformed.

I wanna propose something to you. If we lived a life in which the gospel was really taken root and we were so passionate and we were so full and we were so rescued and we were so transferred, man, what would, forget Uniontown, right? Like what would the houses around you look like? What would the circles that you find yourself in look like? I know what you're thinking. You're a young guy.

I'm slightly older than you, young guy. You still have circles. You have people and this is what I fundamentally believe and that's why I'm so big on kingdom and people stepping into God's mission.

There are people in your circle that I will never meet and people in this room will never meet. And for some of them, the only tangible, contextual gospel conversation they can have is with you. Especially if you've been friends for a long time because you know their hurts, you know their struggles.

You just now need to think through what is the tension point in which I can lead them to an understanding that they have been moved from darkness. They've been transferred and redeemed. I tell a story all the time because it's a guy who I consider a friend who went out to have burgers one time and he was talking to me.

He was like, I don't really get the Christian thing. No, I feel like I'm a good Catholic. He's one of the most generous people I know.

He makes at least one, he'll never see this so it's fine and I'm not gonna say his name. He makes at least a mil, a mil and a half a year, a year. He's a lapsed Catholic, but off the rip, he has already embedded generosity into the workflows where he gives 10% of that mil, mil and a half to different causes, veteran things, going to Cambodia and doing dentistry work, all on his bill.

And I'm like, oh man, that's great Pete. There are people who have loved Jesus their whole life and generosity is a hiccup. You didn't hear his name, I said feet.

But I mean, that's great, that's fantastic. And he was like, yeah, I just wish that Jesus would give me a attaboy. I'm like, oh, oh, you don't get it.

You're one of the most generous people I know. A little crazy, but my type of crazy. And you don't get it.

You don't understand it, it's still a mystery to you. And we talk all the time. I'm like, Pete, the gospel is a attaboy.

The cross is a attaboy. That is God going and saying, you matter to me. So who's your Pete? And I've said his name five times, it's all right now.

You don't know his last name, so ha ha. But who's your Pete? Who's someone? And mind you, these conversations haven't really gotten anywhere. But here's the beauty of it.

We keep on some way having them. And I just keep digging deeper into the tension point of brother, you're looking for God to give you a thumbs up and you're missing the cross, which is the biggest thumbs up you could ever see. So who around you needs to know they've been rescued? Who around you needs to know they've been transferred? Who around you needs to know that there's forgiveness for their sins? And maybe you're already doing this.

Praise God, don't get tired in doing a good thing. Don't get tired in doing a good work. There's a language I kind of want us to adopt here.

Consider it, I'm gonna use it, so you could try. Grace for all, it's a little cheesy. Sounds like a McDonald's commercial, but it works.

It's simple, it's true. It's what I believe the Bible offers to everyone. Grace for all, grace for all.

No one's too far gone. No one's too far out. No one's, oh, done too much.

No, no, Paul emphasizes that. No, no, none of you. He's rescued you.

You don't get to decide how you get rescued and you don't get to decide if you're too far for rescue. God rescues. So grace for all, grace for all of Uniontown, all of Fayette County.

And if you leave because you don't like me, grace for the other places you go to too, right? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you that you are supreme and sufficient for our lives. Thank you that we can be burdened by the weight of your forgiveness, by the weight of your grace.

Let us all pursue spiritual maturity. Let us all seek to grow so that we may live a life pleasing to our Lord. Man, let us rest in the rescue and transfer and the redemption of our Savior who forgives us our sins.

God, let us find the centrality of our lives on the gospel. Rather, that is not just one good word that we need to add on to, but rather it should circle and engulf all of our lives. It is not something to get past, but rather is something to continually dive deeper into the depth of your love, the depth of your grace, the depth of your mercy, so deep that we could never reach the end of it.