Paul had never been to the city of Colosse. He had never preached to the church there, never prayed with those Christians, and never sat down with them and fellowshipped in the things of God. Yet, when he heard of a serious difficulty that was causing problems in the church at Colosse, he was deeply concerned and wrote his letter to the Colossians expressing his concern.

Some Christians may have been tempted to tell Paul to mind his own business. The Colossian church had nothing to do with him, and there were plenty of problems in the churches Paul had founded to keep him busy. Such an attitude would have been unacceptable to the great apostle. He tells us that he faced “daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28). Such is the concern that distinguishes the true servant of God from the career preacher, or worse, from the false shepherd.

The problem at Colosse was a false teaching. We are not too sure what exactly the Colossian heresy was, but we do know how Paul dealt with it. The heresy was answered in a most positive and thrilling way - by exalting the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today's Problems

Our churches today are plagued with problems. Sometimes they are caused by false doctrine, sometimes by worldliness, and often by personality clashes. Whatever the cause, they need to be faced and exposed. But the answer is rarely to use the big stick and beat the saints back into line. This approach does not work and only serves to make some believers more stubborn and hard, whilst others are discouraged. What we need today is something to melt the hearts of Christians, not to harden them.

Church problems are more than believers merely being silly and awkward. Behind every problem there is the hand of Satan. It is true that the Galatians were foolish, but that was because they had been bewitched (Gal. 3:1) by the clever words of false teachers. When Paul calls them foolish, he is, says John MacArthur, “not talking about the absence of intelligence; he is talking about the failure to use it”. The devil who had blinded their minds before they were saved was now trying the same trick, and they were allowing him to get away with it.

To all the problems, Paul's answer is to exalt Christ. To the Colossians he says, “This is the gospel” (1:23) and proceeds to show them the loveliness and beauty of Jesus. He is writing to believers but Christians need the gospel too, and pastors need to preach it regularly. The gospel alone is that which will save lost sinners, but it is also this alone that will restore backsliders and deepen the love of committed Christians for their Saviour. The warmth of the gospel is the greatest tool to make believers more useful in the life of the church.

Tell Me The Old, Old Story

Rather commonly today we hear some Christians, who attend evangelical churches, complain that they never hear sermons about the Cross or the blood of Christ. This is because pastors, in turn, have another complaint. It is that there are no unbelievers in their congregations so what is the use of preaching the gospel to the converted. Instead they concentrate on sermons on holiness, prayer, family relationships, etc. These are biblical and, therefore, necessary subjects that Christians need to hear, but they also need to hear the gospel. To assume that sermons on the Cross and the blood of Christ are only of value to unbelievers is a total fallacy.

Christians need the gospel as well as unbelievers. Whether we have been saved for two weeks or twenty years we all need to hear regularly the message of the Cross and the grace and love of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We need it because everything else in the Christian life flows out of it and depends upon it for freshness and vitality. This is why there is nothing more thrilling to a believer than to hear the gospel preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. It melts his heart and stirs his soul and may even cause him to want, if it were possible, to be converted all over again. If we lose sight of all that the New Testament teaches as to its meaning and significance, we will be floundering spiritually. We may still go through the motions of Christian activity, but we ourselves will be spiritually dry and barren. The gospel is crucial to a healthy Christian life - that is why Christians need the gospel.

Many pastors see this and say that in every sermon they include a little of the gospel so that sinners are challenged and saints encouraged. But we need more than a little of the gospel in a sermon. We need sermons given entirely to exalting Christ as the Saviour. We need sermons full of the gospel and full of Jesus.

Spurgeon said to preachers, ``You must have a real desire for the good of the people if you are to have much influence over them.” There is no greater good a preacher can do than to tell the people, saints and sinners, about Jesus.