The Ripe Fruit of Grace

Once again, to the Book of Colossians. Last Lord’s Day, we began a consideration
of one of Paul’s many illustrations from 2 Timothy chapter two. There, Paul urged, among several
other metaphors, that the hardworking farmer ought to be the first
to receive his share of the crops. And we discovered, considering
that exhortation, and we understood Paul to be discussing not farming
and not agricultural practices, but the Christian ministry, that
those in Christ’s service must keep their eye ever on the crop
to be harvested. To lose sight of that and to
get caught up in dwelling upon only the hard work of ministry
would soon stifle our efforts. We must always keep our eye on
the end product, the harvest. Basically, Paul tells Timothy,
always consider the crops. Think always of the harvest. What Paul intended by that is
that the ministry which had been entrusted to Timothy would surely
bear fruit in time. A crop is promised. There would indeed be a harvest,
and that harvest would motivate and energize young Pastor Timothy
to persevere through his toilsome labor of ministry. Once harvest
was over, he would forget all about the blood, sweat, and tears
of such efforts. And Paul basically says the same
thing in the section of scripture that we considered last Sunday. Chapter 129 through chapter two,
verse three. In ministry, there is labor.
and real, wearying work. And in that labor, there will
be agonizing effort, Paul says there, striving towards a fruitful
harvest. But God would abundantly supply
the necessary grace. It would all be according to
his power that Paul was at work. Paul was quick to point out that
he had his eye on the harvest. He knew well for what or rather
for whom he labored. He knew that his agonizing labors
would never be in vain. His struggle was for the Colossians,
it was for the Laodiceans, and ultimately it was for any and
all who had never even seen his face. He knew that the nature
of the gospel that seeds of the good news of Christ would fly
and flourish wherever they landed. He was simply to sow the seed,
scattering it as it were to the wind. And everyone we impact
for the sake of the gospel will, in time, impact others. It’s an amazing image that Paul
presents. But our efforts in the gospel
are never in vain, as I said, and that’s not a commentary on
the quality of our effort. Our effort is always going to
be less than perfect. Rather, it’s a recognition of
the quality of the seed, the gospel of Christ. One of the
things I always share with new gardeners is don’t scrimp on
seed. Don’t buy cheap seeds. Don’t
buy them just because they’re on sale. There’s a reason that
they’re on sale. Buy fresh, quality seeds. If you want to buy certified
organic and pay the extra money, that’s fine if you insist. But just make sure it’s good
seed from a trusted seller. In Paul’s case, The seed that
he’s using is perfect. After all, it is the seed of
the gospel. Paul knew exactly what the seed
that he planted should produce. There should be no surprises
in Paul’s farm. Well, Paul has concluded his
discussion about the labors of ministry, Christian ministry,
and he quickly turns his attention to the fruit of Christian ministry
here in verse 4 of chapter 2. Remember, Paul had shown us that
there would indeed be a harvest, and a harvest necessarily implies
that there will be fruit in that harvest. And so logically, Paul
turns his attention to a lengthy consideration of the fruit. Now,
examination of fruit is an important thing to do. This goes beyond
the obvious brown spot on a banana. Especially at the fruit stand,
we carefully examine that which we are about to pay good money
to purchase. We scrutinize it. We thump it. We squeeze it. We sniff it. As if we were actually experts
in the discipline of fruit examination. We had a child who became particularly
concerned about this process of fruit examination. No matter
what the delectable offering was placed before this child,
the question was always the same. Is this one good? That question
would be posed before each bite of fruit. And suffice it to say
that we had a certified fruit inspector in training in our
midst. But that is precisely what Paul
is doing here in the remainder of chapter two. He’s fruit inspecting. Perhaps more accurately, he’s
detailing for all of us what to look for in the fruit of harvest. If the gospel has truly touched
a person’s life, what should their life look like? What are
the metrics or the evaluation standards that ought to be employed
in the evaluation of the fruit of ministry. And that general
question from our fruit inspector in training is a good one in
that regard as well. Is this one good? Is this one
good? How do we fare under the inspection
of God’s Word in this regard? What should a Christian look
like? It’s a lengthy section. It goes from verse four all the
way to verse 23, and we’ll take it in full this morning. It’s
a lengthy section because Paul has much to say in this regard.
Would you follow along with me as I read, beginning in verse
four. I say this so that no one will
delude you with persuasive argument. For even though I am absent in
body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see
your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him
and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and
overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you
captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to
the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles
of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in him, all the
fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And in him, you have been
made complete, and he is the head over all rule and authority. And in him, you were also circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the
body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried
with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with
him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the
dead. When you were dead in your transgressions
and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive
together with him. having forgiven us of all our
transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting
of decrees against us, which were hostile to us, and he has
taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When
he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public
display of them, having triumphed over them through him. Therefore,
no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink, or
in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things
which are a mere shadow of what is to come. But the substance
belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you
of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship
of angels, taking his stand on visions that he has seen. inflated
without cause by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to
the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held
together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is
from God.” If you have died with Christ,
to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you
were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees
such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which all
refer to things destined to perish with use, in accordance with
the common commandments and teachings of men. These are matters which
have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion,
self-abasement, and in severe treatment of the body, but are
of no value against fleshly indulgence. Now, for our purposes this morning,
I’d like to look at this section, the remainder of chapter two,
as a whole. And then in the remaining time,
we’ll consider the first metric, the first evaluation point of
gospel fruit. And I’ll tell you in advance,
there are five examination points, the first of which we’ll see
in verses four and five, the discernment to be exercised. This is what is expected to be
found in the fruit of the gospel in believers’ lives, the discernment
to be exercised. That’s what we look for. And
as I said, we’ll try to tackle this one this morning. The second
examination point of gospel fruit is the steadfastness to be maintained. If we have placed our faith in
Jesus Christ for salvation, we are conducting ourselves accordingly. We find that in verses six and
seven. The same God who saves us is
the same God who begins the work of sanctification. Our lives
should be in the process of being changed, transformed into the
likeness of Christ. The third inspection mark of
the harvest of fruit called believers is the caution to be observed. The caution to be observed, and
we find this one in verses 8 through 12, this is more than just a
subtle hint that the Christian life is one of many dangers. Great care must be taken far
beyond the basic discernment of that first examination point. We must exercise great caution
that keeps watch over what it is we are consuming as believers
so that we do not accidentally gulp down some heretical philosophy
or what Paul calls empty deception. We must constantly keep in mind
that the devil and his henchmen are always attempting to implement
some new ploy to sideline you as a Christian. The devil comes
to steal, kill, and destroy, remember? Based on the substantial
reminder that Paul provides here, we already have and know the
truth which ought to make error all that much more detectable
for believers. There’s a fourth evaluation point
by which we can examine the fruit of our lives as Christians, We find this one in verses 13
and 14, the regeneration to be enjoyed. When we look back as
believers and we see how stupendous God’s work of grace is and was
in our lives, we will be motivated to an even greater measure of
faith. As Paul says it in Titus 3, we also once were foolish
ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and
pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful,
hating one another. Do you remember those days? I
do. It was bad. We were thoroughly sinful and
hopelessly lost. As Paul says to the Ephesians,
we were dead in our trespasses and sins. But God, but God, as 1 Peter
1.3 says, God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. He has regenerated, brought us
back to life through the gospel. Ours is now to enjoy that work
of God. We don’t work our way to heaven.
We don’t try to pay God back. That specifically leads to the
final point, the fifth and final examination metric for Christian
fruit. We find in verses 15 through
23, the liberty to be guarded. The liberty to be guarded. One
of the sure signs of a cult are the extra-biblical rules, rules
from outside of Scripture that are imposed standards that they
force upon their followers. This is one of the particular
affronts facing the Colossian church, the legalists who wanted
to layer on all kinds of additional observations so that people could
be saved according to them. But Paul argues that Jesus Christ
alone is our judge. And if Scripture has not explicitly
forbidden some practice, we must be willing to preserve that liberty.
Where the Bible speaks, we speak. Where the Bible is silent, we
too are silent. Well, that’s an overview of the
remainder of this chapter, but let’s go back, if we could, to
that first evaluation point, that initial standard of measure
of gospel fruit, all the way back to verses 4 and 5, the discernment
that must be exercised. Let’s begin there this morning. And with regard to discernment,
I see three layers, if you will, here. The caution to spiritual
discernment in verse 4, the fellowship of spiritual discernment at the
beginning of verse 5, and the product of spiritual discernment
there at the end of verse 5. Paul here is setting forth, as
we’ve talked about, the examination points for the fruit of the gospel,
us, those who have professed faith in Christ, and he’s doing
the part of a good farmer. A good farmer carefully tills
the soil, he uses the best seed, he cares for his crop throughout
the long growing season, and then finally the farmer harvests
and he inspects his harvest. Like that good farmer, Paul has
shown, pardon me, faithfully sown the seeds of the gospel. They’ve scattered far and wide.
The gospel has even been carried to places that Paul had never
even been. Amazing story. That gospel has
taken root, it has germinated, and it has borne fruit. And Paul
too wishes to examine his crop. Remember a moment ago I mentioned
quality seed? Quality seed should produce the
exact crop that you’re planting. There should be no surprises.
I remember a number of years ago I planted some seeds from squash that I had harvested the
previous year. I saved the seeds, planted them, What I didn’t know is that squash
and gourds are from the same family. And so they cross-pollinate. And when they cross-pollinate,
what you get is a mutant, inedible thing. And that’s what happened
to me. I really didn’t know what I had
planted. And so the result was a disaster.
Paul, on the other hand, knew exactly what he had planted.
Paul knew exactly what the seed was. He knew exactly what it
would do, what it would grow. He knew exactly what kind of fruits
it would produce. And so Paul moves to inspect
the fruit of the harvest. The first thing that he looks
for is discernment. That’s what Paul says here in
verse four. Glance there, if you would, please.
I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. Before we charge ahead with Paul’s
obvious caution here, we have to ask what he means by this. I say this so that. What does he mean by that? Those
words point backward, not forward. He isn’t forewarning us about
an upcoming discussion. He’s looking back to something
he’s already said. And the immediately preceding
discussion, to which he obviously refers, would certainly point
to the Christian ministry in particular. I say this about
all that there is to know about the Christian ministry that he
had labored on their behalf, and because he has toiled like
a hardworking farmer, it would be nothing short of tragic now
than to have the fruit of his harvest be evaluated as bad,
or to go bad. But with that, there’s no reason
that we shouldn’t look all the way back to his discussion of
the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, that was that
lengthy section that began all the way back in verse three of
chapter one. If it would be tragic for Paul’s
crop to go bad simply because of his labor on their behalf,
how much worse would it be for Christ’s crop to go bad? And that makes the need to guard
our professional faith, the means of discernment, it makes that
all that much more important. Paul’s purpose is stated and
clear. He says that it is so that no
one will delude you with persuasive argument. The word here, delude,
speaks of the end result of false speech. You’ve been tricked. You’ve been duped. You’ve been
had. This word delude is an ugly word. The only other time that the
word is used is in James 1.22. Prove yourselves to be doers
of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. In James
1.22 there, it refers to individuals who convince themselves that
they are actually saved. when they are not, because it’s
against all evidence to the contrary. And so it refers to the verbalization
of faulty reasoning, wrong thinking, false ideas, but worse. Worse, it means that someone
has misled someone by a false idea. That’s what it means to
delude someone. Their argument, their reasoning,
if it can even be called such, it was bad to begin with. But
it’s worse still once they begin to gain adherence to their faulty
ideas. They have deceived them. And
Paul flavors this sentence with a second word in order to show
how such deceit is even possible. The second fascinating word built
into this sentence, translated with two English words, persuasive
argument, translated by these two English words, one word in
the Greek, And we get no external help with this word. It’s the
only place that this word occurs in the New Testament. It just
refers to credible and therefore convincing reasoning. Well, it
sounded good. Persuasive reasoning is not bad
in itself. Neither is this word inherently
evil. But the way that Paul uses it
here refers to the individual who has his scheme worked out. And like a slick salesman, he
has an answer for every doubt, every question. He’s ready. And like the steady drip of a
leaky faucet, one Argument after another. The person listening
is, little by little, taken in by the sly and smooth-talking
imposter. This might be hard to grasp at
first, but the delusion mentioned above is made possible by this
manipulative reasoning. Paul cautions young Timothy of
this foolish tendency that people have. Wanting to have their ears
tickled, 2 Timothy 4, wanting to have their ears tickled, they
will accumulate, they’ll heap them up. They can’t get enough
of this nonsense. They will accumulate for themselves
teachers in accordance to their own desires. You hear what Paul
says there? They want what they want, and
they’re going to keep shopping until somebody says what they
want to hear. They’re not satisfied with God’s
Word. They’re not satisfied with the
message of God’s Word. They go shopping. They go looking
for someone to tell them what they want to hear. The devil
knows this. False teachers know this. And
they are both more than ready to whisper deceitful messages
into the ear of a willing listener. Again, we don’t know the specific
heretical ideas that the Colossians were facing. We know they were
facing trouble, troublesome people, false teachers. But these false
ideas are prevalent in any day and age. It’s not as if we’re
out of the woods in this regard. This is one of the reasons that
the average Christian bookstore cannot make it financially. Did
you realize that? They may get off to a good start. And the Christians in the community
turn out and they buy the things on sale in order to avoid the
shipping charge of Amazon. But the appetite of professing
Christians is so dangerously broad that in addition to all
the fish and dove merchandise that these stores have to carry,
They begin to broaden the base of what books they carry. And
the next thing you know, the more biblically-minded believers
can’t even bear to walk into a place and it cannot survive. It can’t survive, thankfully,
selling trash. But that’s exactly what Paul
is doing here in the remainder of chapter two. He’s fruit inspecting. Perhaps more accurately, he’s
detailing what to look for in the fruit of harvest. That general question is a good
one, isn’t it? Is this one good? Come to another layer of this
discernment. Not only the caution of discernment
from verse four, but the fellowship of discernment in verse five.
Would you just glance at the first portion of that verse?
For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with
you in spirit. What a wonderful heart this apostle
had. Here in verse five, Paul adds
his explanation to his plea of verse four, a plea of discernment. We know that by that little introductory
word for, Paul’s explaining. And essentially he says here,
look, I’m with you. You need to exercise discernment
because we’re in this together. Christianity is not for lone
rangers. Isolated individuals trying to
do the Christian life on their own. They don’t survive. Such a person will almost always
fall victim to their own weakness. to the world’s ways, or to the
devil’s tricks, or some combination of all three of them, we are
designed and called to walk in fellowship with one another. Now, as of the moment of this
writing, it was more than a little difficult for Paul to pick up
and be in warm, personal fellowship with the Colossian church. He’s
sequestered. incarcerated, even if under house
arrest, under Caesar’s nose in Rome. Paul had relative freedom there,
obvious freedom to write, but he was still a prisoner. And
as such, he couldn’t just take off, even for a getaway weekend,
to run down to Colossae to socialize. And he acknowledges this in verse
five, I’m absent in body. Paul readily admits, as he wrote
to them, he was some 1,300 miles away from them. For perspective,
that’s about how far Niagara Falls is from here. All Paul says here is he wasn’t
there in Colossae. Very simple statement, he’s absent
from them. And absence does not imply that
he had ever been there before. We’ve already dealt with that
question. Paul had never been to Colossae. So when he says
that he was absent from them, and it suggests that he was not
there. And this hardly needed saying,
but Paul is going somewhere very important here. Look again at
the beginning of that sentence. He says, even though I am absent
in body, nevertheless, I am with you in spirit. This is a remarkable statement,
really. Because as we’ve heard again and again, Paul had never
even been to this region. He never even met these people. And yet he can say with all confidence,
under the accountability of the Holy Spirit, that he was with
them in spirit. Paul isn’t here talking about
the Holy Spirit. Even though both he and they
were indwelled by the Holy Spirit, he’s speaking of his human spirit,
if you will, his heart. Physically, Paul was absent. but in his spirit he was there.
Paul uses the same phrase in 1 Corinthians. Remember when
Paul was addressing this really dreadful situation with a sinful
young man who was long overdue to be disciplined? The Corinthians were rather libertine
about this whole thing, and they thought it was kind of cute that
this young man would be dating his father’s wife, not his mother. And Paul walked them through
the insanity of their unsupportable position, and he declared that
he had already decided to discipline this young man. In that context,
Paul let them know the same exact thing. I’m with you in spirit. We use this language ourselves
from time to time, don’t we? If we’re away from someone and
they’re going through some joyful season or some severe trial, we tell them, I’m there with
you in spirit. I’m there with you in my heart.
Or I’m thinking about you. But unlike, as is so often the
case with us, These aren’t just mere platitudes by Paul. We say this all the time, and
we, I don’t know, oh brother, my heart is with you. Is it? Paul speaks in solemn and sincere
terms here, indicating that he is very much, very deeply united
with this church. Their common bond was the strongest
of all. It was their fellowship of faith
and a common Savior, the Lord Jesus himself. Paul, writing
to the Philippians, gives us a glimpse of what some of these
elements of Christian fellowship are. In Philippians 2.1, Paul
asked the Philippians, is there any encouragement in Christ?
We encourage one another. We admonish each other when we
need to. We come alongside and build each
other up when we must. Is there any encouragement in
Christ? Is there any consolation of love? Is there any comfort
in walking in fellowship with a Christian brother or sister? Is there any fellowship of the
Spirit? You’re both indwelled by the same Holy Spirit. That
should be an unbreakable bond, shouldn’t it? Encouragement in Christ, consolation
of love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and compassion. Shouldn’t the church be the most
affectionate place in the world? Shouldn’t the church be the most
compassionate place? If those things are so, Paul
presses further still, make my joy complete by being of the
same mind. Be unified. Quit your bickering. Maintaining
the same love. Don’t create these little cliques. Maintaining the same love, united
in spirit, intent on one purpose. And that begins to tell us how
deep the fellowship among Christians goes, or should go. Again, even
though they had never met, Paul acknowledges a deep and vibrant
bond with this church. He’s urging this church to a
careful discernment, even though he’s not there to watch over
them. And maybe even especially since he’s not there to watch
over them, whether they have brotherly accountability or not,
for their own sake and for the sake of others, he says, exercise
discernment. There’s a third layer of this
discernment. We find it at the end of verse
five. not only the caution to spiritual discernment and the
fellowship of spiritual discernment, but third and finally, the product
of spiritual discernment. What does it produce? Look at
the end of verse 5, rejoicing to see your good discipline and
the stability of your faith in Christ. Paul tells us here in
the latter part of verse 5, that he is rejoicing to see the
good discipline and stability of their faith. And Paul makes
special note of two spiritual features, two significant things that God
was doing in the lives of these believers. One outward manifestation
of God’s grace, one inward manifestation, And it’s of note that Paul employs
two military terms here, good discipline and stability. You see, nothing escapes Paul’s
notice. As of this writing, he’s being
held under arrest by Roman guards. And he says, wouldn’t this make
a remarkable illustration? Remember in Ephesians 6, he makes
amazing use of the imagery of soldiers putting on their pieces
of armor. And so here, likewise, these
images are borrowed, really, borrowed images from the Roman
guards who were attending him. And the first of these terms
was, as is translated here, good discipline. This is the more
visible of the two elements, and it points to the order, like
that of a good soldier, disciplined and diligent to conduct themselves
in a well-ordered manner. Paul uses the word the same way
in his first epistle to the Corinthians. Remember the Corinthians, I mean,
they’re at odds and in disarray, bickering about the use of their
spiritual gifts of all things. And so in 1 Corinthians 14, 40,
Paul admonishes them by saying, all things must be done properly
and in an orderly manner. Same word. Of the Colossians, Paul rejoiced
to see their well-ordered lives and their conduct. Among them
as believers, there were no divisions. There were no defections. There
were no slouches who didn’t pull their weight in the platoon,
only solid believers in whom God had done a work. The second
feature which Paul looked forward to seeing in these believers,
as translated in verse five, the stability of their faith
in Christ. Beautiful image. Like several
other words in these two short verses, This is the only place
that this word is used in the New Testament. As I said a moment
ago, this too is a military word. And of these two items, this
is the one that addresses the more inward of the two conditions. That said, it’s not as if stability
of faith would not have some outward manifestation. It would
indeed. But this stability begins as
a work of God in the heart of a Christian. The word is used
to speak of firmness, steadiness, solidness, as we see among a
group of soldiers. It speaks of a firm foundation. It’s always impressive, isn’t
it, to see an army in their dress uniforms in parade march, Beautiful
illustration, beautiful image. Well, these believers, not only
were they steadfast individually, they were steadfast as a unit.
This is a solid church. Just as each soldier of a well-disciplined
unit knows and fulfills their own role. So also in this church,
there was no infighting, there was no sneaky maneuvering for
position or power, just well-disciplined believers functioning together
as one, stable, solid, firm. What is more stable and firm
a foundation but that which is by faith in Christ. Here in this
remote area, crawling with false teachers, to doubt and to flinch
would have been to weakly open the door to error. And yet, here
was this little mountain town church, insignificant among the
larger city churches, let alone to the world, but they were firm
and unwavering in the most important thing of all, their determined
trust in their Savior. Think of how reasonable it was
for the Colossians to stand strongly in their faith in Christ. Christ’s
love had taken him to the cross on their behalf. And he loved them still. And
he blessed them constantly and abundantly with both earthly
and spiritual blessings. Who else could these believers
turn to in great need or crisis? Christ was ever on his throne
awaiting their cries. And he never runs out of the
divine resource of grace. How reasonable it was for the
Colossians to trust Jesus fully. How reasonable it is for us. Well, that’s what God was doing
in the lives of believers who brought joy to the incarcerated
apostle, what God was doing in their lives as believers produced
joy in his heart. Such joy would certainly be experienced
in the hearts of the Colossian people as a blessing of their
discernment and discipline as they avoided the devil’s pitfalls
and walked in obedience But Paul says that it would also bring
joy to his own heart, rejoicing to see your good discipline and
the stability of your faith in Christ. Paul isn’t using the
word see here in a strictly literal manner. In a sense, he’s building
upon that sentiment that he was with them in spirit. In that
sense, he sees what’s going on in their life. Paul would perhaps
never physically see their good discipline, but he might well
hear of it, just as he had already heard of the good report from
Epaphras. In the third verse of chapter
one, Paul opened his letter with this, remember? We give thanks
to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you. Since we heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have for all the saints.
If Epaphras’ original report prompted Paul to give thanks
and to pray, it’s no stretch to think of him rejoicing at
the similar news of the growth and grace in this little church. Would you humble yourself in
examination before him?