Sermon Tone Analysis

*Title: *The Products of the Gospel

*Text: *Colossians 1:3-8

*Theme of the book of Colossians: *Jesus Christ:  The pre-eminent and all-sufficient Savior* \\ Theme of Text: *Paul’s thankfulness to God and his purpose in life were based on the Gospel.

*Proposition: *The Gospel should produce change in our lives.

\\ 3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 

4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 

6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;

7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 

8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

\\ *Introduction*

           

One of my grandpa’s in Texas is a watermelon farmer.

He has been a farmer for all of his life.

He used to take me with him to the watermelon fields everyday when I was a kid.

He used to teach me everything he knew about watermelons.

I learned about the whole process of growing produce.

There are many steps in the growing process, before you get a big watermelon.

First, you have to have a field, and then you have to get the field ready to be planted.

After it is ready, you have plant the seed, water the ground, fertilize the field, weed the field, and then after months of growing, you harvest the watermelon.

You then put the watermelons on trucks to be delivered to markets and stores.

Once the watermelon is at the store, people can buy the produce.

The watermelon is the product of a lot of hard work.

There is not just an easy step to get watermelons to grow.

You can’t just stick a seed in the microwave and then 20 minutes later you get a watermelon.

It is a product of the ground and man’s hard work.

Today we will be talking about the products of the Gospel.

The gospel has four natural products mentioned in this passage.

The Gospel produces thankfulness to God, change in peoples lives, fruit, and preachers.

*Definition of Gospel*

            What exactly is the Gospel?

At the end of verse 5, the word gospel is used; the word in the Greek language is εὐαγγέλιον.

What does Paul mean when he uses the word “gospel?”

This word is used over 90 times in the New Testament; Paul commonly uses it in his epistles.

We use the word “Gospel” a lot in church, but many times we use this “Christian” word without people knowing the meaning of it.

The word “Gospel” used as a noun literally means “a reward for good tidings.”

In the New Testament times in secular literature, it is used as a technical term for “news of victory.”

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says, “The messenger appears, raises his right hand in greeting and calls out with a loud voice “news of victory.”

 By his appearance, it is known already that he brings good news.

His face shines, his spear is decked with laurel, his head is crowned, he swings a branch of palms, joy fills the city, “news of victory” are offered, the temples are garlanded, an theatrical play is held, crowns are put on for the sacrifices and the one to whom the message is owed is honored with a wreath.

εὐαγγέλιον is closely linked with the thought of victory in battle.”

(2:722) For the believer, the “Gospel” does not mean victory in battle, but it does mean that Christ has victory over death, sin, and hell!

The way that the word “Gospel” is used in the New Testament is very broad.

The gospel implies not only the historical event of Christ coming to earth, but it the total idea behind Christianity.

We are Christians because of the Gospel.

When I refer to the word “Gospel,” I will usually mean the good news of Christ’s coming to defeated sin, Satan, and death at the cross, and he has made it possible for men to receive grace, forgiveness, and eternal life through what he did at Calvary.

In his commentary on Colossians, John MacArthur says that there are 7 things that we should do because of the Gospel.

They are as follows: 

/First/, we should proclaim the good news, following the example of Jesus (Matt.

4:23), the apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and believers of all ages.

/Second/, we are to defend its veracity (truthfulness).

Paul described himself as one “appointed for the defense of the gospel” (Phil.

1:16).

Peter told his readers to “make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet.

3:15).

/Third/, we are to work hard for the advance of the gospel.

Paul admonishes the Philippians to “strive together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil.

1:27).

The gospel demands of us discipline and strenuous effort.

/Fourth/, we are to pursue the fellowship we share with others who have believed the gospel.

Devotion to the fellowship of the gospel characterized the early church (Acts 2:42).

Paul often expressed his gratitude for those who had received the gospel (Phil.

1:3–5).

/Fifth/, we must be ready to suffer for the sake of the gospel.

(2 Tim.

1:8).

/Sixth/, we are to make sure that our lives do not hinder the gospel.

Paul told the Corinthians that he would waive his right to be paid for his ministry rather than cheapen the message of the gospel (1 Cor.

9:12).

/Seventh/, we must never be ashamed of the gospel.

(Rom.

1:16).

/Finally/, we are to realize the gospel carries with it divine empowerment.

(1 Thess.

1:5).

The power of the gospel does not come from our cleverness or persuasiveness, but from the Holy Spirit.

*1)      **The Gospel Produces Thankfulness   v.

3-4*

*i.)                  **What Paul gave: “thanks”*

Paul writes in this first verse, “/We give thanks/.”

He uses the plural and says we because in verse 1, he mentioned that Timothy was with him.

It was probable that Epaphras was with him as well.

We should suspect that Paul, Timothy, Epaphras, and any other Christians with them were praying regularly together for the church of Colossae.

The word for thanksgiving is closely related to the idea of praise.

Paul was basically offering up praise and thanksgiving.

Paul was grateful to God for what the Gospel did, so he offered praise and thanksgiving

* *

*ii.)                **To Whom Paul gave “thanks”*

The thanks was not offered to the Colossians; it was offered “/to God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”/

The Gospel was a gift from God because he sent his Son to the cross for us.

We are not thankful for what we have done (Eph.

2:8-9), nor are we thankful for what another man has done, but we are thankful for what God has done!

             

*iii.)

**When Paul gave “thanks”*

Paul says that he was “/praying always for you/.”

He said he was “always” praying for them.

This was a common way to talk of prayer in ancient letters.

We would think that this means continual unceasing prayer throughout the day, but Paul was not talking about an unceasing prayer.

The idea here is that he remembered to give thanks to God and remembered the Colossians in his prayers when he prayed.

He means that he regularly remembered them in his times of prayer: morning, noon, and evening (the customary three hours each day), and whenever else he prayed (O’Brien 10).

It is true that we should be always thinking about the Lord and praying to him, but here it is talking about regular scheduled times of prayer.

We must have regular times of prayer each day.

[TAKE TEN CHALLENGE]

* *

*iv.)              **Why Paul gave “thanks”*

Paul was giving thanks to God because of what the Gospel had done in the lives of the Colossian believers.

Paul had “/heard/” the good reports of the believers at Colossae.

The Gospel had changed the people at Colossae.

It had given the Colossian believers faith, love, and hope; this is reason to praise God.

The Gospels power to change men is a reason to give praise and thanksgiving to God.

* *

Paul was thankful to God during his regular times of prayer because of the Colossian believer’s faith in God and love for all the saints.

Thankfulness is the result of the Gospel.