Power in the Pulpit | Colossians 4:2–18

Intro: Tonight will be our last sermon over the book of Colossians. Starting next week we will be doing four weeks over the book of Jonah. On April 2nd, we will take up a collection for Annie Armstrong Easter offering after the sermon. I would encourage you to go ahead and begin saving allowance money, birthday money, or something of that nature so we can give to support North American missions. As I said, tonight is our last night in Colossians. Colossians is a pretty short book, but we have covered a lot. We have looked at the theology of who Christ is. We have looked at the pitfalls of trying to save oneself through works and not giving that power to Christ alone. We have even spent some time on the conduct of a believer. And that’s not everything. But tonight we see Paul’s final instructions on living according to what is appropriate conduct for a believer in Jesus Christ. And we see him give greetings from those he is with whose lives give us an example of how we should live.

Exposition: Paul starts the passage by saying Col 4:2 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” The word steadfast means to be devoted to. So another way of saying this is to be devoted to prayer. To be watchful is another word for alert. So be devoted to prayer being alert and with thanksgiving.

Application: Does that characterize your prayer life? Are you devoted to prayer? Or do you only really pray when you feel like there is something you need God to do in your life or in the life of somebody you know? When you do pray, are your alert? How many of us, and I struggle with this in here as much as anybody else, pray at night laying down before we go to bed. And because of that we have a really hard time staying focused on prayer. We find ourselves continually in the prayer lost in thought and we realize that we are not even praying and we don’t know how long it has been since we prayed. Students I implore you now to make prayer a regular disciplined part of your life now. Find time each morning to go to God in intentional prayer. Pray over your day and for those in your life. If you struggle with staying focused, find somewhere that you can kneel at your bed and pray out loud. This is a discipline I have gotten away from, but in college that made a huge difference in my prayer life. But if we believe that we have the ear of the God of the universe, we need to take advantage of that and pray regularly and alertly. But our prayer shouldn’t be like we are filling out a list to send to the North Pole for Christmas. God has blessed us with so much. Since we have the opportunity to communicate with him, we need to in those prayers express thankfulness for all God has done. In fact, that is how we should start our prayers. We should start by acknowledging all that God has done for us.

Exposition: Paul goes on to say in verses three and four Col 4:3-4 “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” There are two very incredible things we see about Paul’s character here. First, Paul the greatest missionary of all time who wrote this letter from prison due to his work spreading the gospel, is not just sitting back resting on his laurels because he feels like he has done his part. No, there is still a deep desire in Paul to see people come to know Christ. And he knows that is why he is in prison. But he’s not toning down hoping that maybe he could get out. Instead, he’s asking that he may continue to share it. In fact, he writes in his letter to the church at Philippi, the book of Philippians, that the guards that were tasked with watching over him, were coming to know Christ.

Application: How badly do we want to see people come to know Christ? How badly do we want to know Him? Do we desire to see people come to know Christ? Next week we are going to start an emphasis called “Who’s Your One?” I want you to be thinking about this week, who is the one person that you want to see come to know Christ more than anybody else? We are going to start taking time to pray for those people you think of. But do we know people that do not know Christ, and like Paul do we want to see them come to know Christ. Does it bother us that there are billions of people all over the world that have never heard the gospel? If not, why not? If we believe Jesus is the way to heaven, does it bother us when people don’t know him?

Exposition: But what we also see is Paul is still dependent on the power of God to help him speak the name of Christ. At the point Paul has been on three missionary journeys. He has taken the gospel all over the Roman world, and he still is asking that pray that God would empower him to share the gospel clearly.

Application: Let me ask you something, how many of you do not share the gospel because you get nervous about the idea of telling somebody about Jesus. How many of you that fear comes from being worried that you will not say the right thing or may not make it clear? You’re not alone, the apostle Paul had the same concern. But you’re in luck, you don’t have to go at it alone. Paul was asking for prayer that God would empower him to do it. And we can pray that same prayer. We can and should pray it for ourselves, and we can and should pray it for one another.

Exposition: Paul then writes about how we should conduct ourselves around those that are not Christians. He writes in verses 5 and 6 Col4:5-6 “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” he says to walk in wisdom toward outsiders making the best use of the time. We need to be very careful with how we act around those that are not Christians. Paul says to make the best use of the time. The literal wording translates buy up time. The phrase was used to mean buying something when you find a bargain on it.

Illustration: Think about going to the store and you walk up on something that is for sale really cheap. Right away you’re doing the math in your head, “how much money would it cost if I buy this many.” You realize that’s not very much money so you say how about this many. Then you keep adding more and more and even when it gets to a point that it’s too expensive, you can justify it because you don’t know when you will ever find that price again. You don’t know when that opportunity is going to come again. We never know how many opportunities we are going to get share the gospel with somebody again. We don’t know how many other Bible believing people will be there to be a positive influence in our lives. So we need to make the most of our opportunities. This is why Paul says to walk in wisdom towards outsiders.

Exposition: He says in verse 6 Col. 4:6 “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” When we speak, are we kind? Could there be anything worse than somebody that is a believer bullying somebody that is not a believer? What are the chances that person is going to want to pursue Christ if somebody that does pursue Christ treats them poorly. We also shouldn’t waste words.

Illustration: Have any of you ever accidentally bought salt-free ketchup at the store? It’s terrible. I would say it’s bland, but that would be an insult to bland food. It’s absolutely terrible. It just has no taste. Our words should have purpose. They should leave a good impact on somebody. We need to always be ready to respond in every situation in a way that honors God because we don’t know how many more opportunities we are going to get to show Christ to those around us that don’t know him.

Transition: After Paul gives these final instructions regarding the conduct of life, he goes on to close out the letter. He does this by giving greetings from those that are with him. Many of them had travelled with him to Rome as we read about in the book of Acts. By looking at their stories, we can learn a lot about their examples.

Exposition: Paul writes in verses 7-8, Col. 4:7-8 “Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts,” One day all of you are going to graduate high school. And one of the things that excites me about us having such a young group, is I can’t wait to see where you all are in your walk with Christ when you get to that point. And I could be selfish and hope that you go to college in middle georgia, get a job here and never stop serving at Maynard. I could dream of you being my child’s sunday school teacher or being a volunteer in our youth department. But that isn’t the biblical model. the biblical model is to help train you and mentor you, so that if God calls you somewhere else, you are ready to go and I send you happily. Remember, Paul had never met the people at this church. So he was sending somebody that was a faithful minister with him to go serve somebody else. As much as it excites me to think about you all growing up and serving here at Maynard. It excites me even more to think about you going to serve overseas or somewhere else where the gospel is needed. And it is my job, Matthew’s job and your parents’ job to make sure you’re ready. Paul then says in verse 9 Col 4:9 “and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.” The story of Onesimus is really cool. He was the slave of a man names Philemon, who was a believer in Colossae. Well, Onesmus escaped, seemingly while stealing from Philemon. He escaped to Rome and somehow while there, came to Paul and became a believer. Paul sent him back with a letter to Philemon asking Philemon to receive Onesmus as a brother. he says in verses 8-16 of the book of Philemon 8-16 “Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” He basically like, I’m not telling you what to do, though I could if I wanted to, but I really think you should give this guy his freedom. What a work of sovereignty on God’s behalf.

Exposition: He writes in verse 10 Col. 4:10 “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him),” Aristarchus was a prisoner that had travelled with Paul to Rome whom he seemed to still be close with. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, had travelled with Paul and Barnabas on Paul’s first missionary journey. For reasons we don’t know he left in the middle of the trip. When it came for Paul and Barnabas to make another trip, Barnabas wanted John Mark to come and Paul didn’t. The disagreement was so bad that they went separate ways and Paul traveled with Silas instead. But we see here, Mark and Paul have each forgiven each other and are serving again together.

Application: There are going to be moments where you have disagreements get really ugly. There are going to be times where you think there is no way you can be reconciled with that person. This verse here is proof you can. Paul went from believing he couldn’t trust Mark to sending him all over the Roman world.

Next Paul mentions in verse 11 Col 4:11 “and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.” We read in the book of Acts that this man was one of the two men considered to replace Judas among the 12 that were closest with Jesus. He wasn’t chosen, but obviously he had a relationship with Jesus while he was on earth. But he didn’t think of himself to great to join Paul’s team and travel with him when he was being taken to prison in Rome. We must remember our position we serve in is not important, but the one we serve is.

Col 4:12-13 “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.” It was through Epaphrus faithfulness in preaching the gospel that the people in Colossae heard about the gospel. But he didn’t just move on from them when he rejoined Paul. He served faithful in the towns surrounding Colossae. And he continued to serve them in prayer. He saw their value, he knew they were loved by God and he loved them too. One day some of you are going to go on mission trips and going to meet people that never leave your heart. I encourage you to pray for those people and remember them. Col 4:14 “Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.” Luke was the writer of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.

Expposition: Paul then writes in verse 15 Col 4:15 “Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.” Laodicea was one of the two towns really close to Colossae. The other was Hierapolis that Paul had mentioned a second ago. At this time churches were so small they could fit in people’s houses. There’s some evidence that some houses in this time were structurally changed so they could host churches.He writes in verse 16 Col 4:16 “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.” We don’t have the letter that Paul wrote to the Laodiceans. It didn’t survive. But we see just how active Paul was in encouraging the churches in the gentile regions.

Exposition: In verse 17 Paul writes Col 4:17 “And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”” This archippus had a specific role he had been given and Paul encouraged him to fulfill it.

Application: Each of you has a role that you have been given by God. All of you are students. This means that your ministry is to your classmates and friends at school. Fulfill that ministry. Those of you that are on sports teams, your ministry is to those on your teams. Fulfill that ministry. If you are in a club or some other activity, fulfill your ministry. God has placed you there for a specific purpose. Pursue it.

Transition: After giving the greetings and telling them to take the letter to nearby churches, he then finishes the letter.

Exposition: Paul then says in verse 18 Col 4:18 “I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.” We see in Paul’s other letters that he dictated the letters and somebody would write them out for him. This greeting was his signature on the letter. If you read Romans, the guy writing the letter actually gives his own greeting which I always think is really funny whenever I read it. But what does Paul do when he signs his letter, he tells them to remember his chains. And says “Grace be with you.” Paul reminds them there is a cost to following Christ. The love he has for God’s church has come with a price. But Paul has been more than willing to pay that cost, Why, because of who he believes Christ is.

Verse 18

Paul’s goodbye

Conclusion: In the first week of the semester we read Col 1:3-5 which states Col 1:3-5 “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,” The ultimate reason Paul was writing to a church of people he had never met was because he had heard of their faith. The reason he had heard of their faith was because their hope was laid up in heaven. I ask you tonight, where is your hope laid up. Is it laid up in heaven? Or do you tend to be like Demas and love the world and walk astray from how God would call you to live. Are there people you are holding grudges against that you need to pray for? If there is business you need to do with God, let tonight be the night.