Colossians: Christ Alone, Week 6

To Pray and To Serve

Good morning church family!

We started this journey in Colossians six weeks ago, and today we come to the end of the journey.

Along the way in this journey, we have seen the importance of Christ alone as our only hope at redemption, the centrality and preeminence of Christ alone as our Lord and Savior, Christ alone as our answer to sin and the world, Christ alone as our purpose in life and Christ alone as the foundation for our marriages and our relationships.

Today, Paul closes out the letter to the Colossians. Our main point for today is that:

Main Point: Paul closes his letter with the reminder to be a person who prays and commends fellow believers.

Today, Christ alone provides us the means to pray and to be unified as a body of believers, commending one another in the service of our Lord.

Now before we read our passage from chapter four, I want to remind you that Paul is in prison and has likely never stepped foot in Colossae.

He has written this letter again, because of the heresies that we saw in the first three chapters, where he was talking about those that were adding the law and mysticism to create this false gospel.

So, as Paul concludes this letter, he still is in this same mindset - stay away from those heresies. Stay away from those that are working to turn you to a false gospel, away from that centrality of Christ.

So, as we read, bear that in mind - Paul, in a Roman prison cell, writing to people that he has likely never met.

Beginning in verse 2:

Colossians 4:2–18 CSB

2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, 4 so that I may make it known as I should. 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. 7 Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are and so that he may encourage your hearts. 9 He is coming with Onesimus, a faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here. 10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin (concerning whom you have received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These alone of the circumcised are my coworkers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills. 13 For I testify about him that he works hard for you, for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas send you greetings. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her home. 16 After this letter has been read at your gathering, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And tell Archippus, “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.” 18 I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Prayer.

As Paul was writing his closing remarks to the letter, Paul addresses these four characteristics that we must embrace as followers of Christ in order to defend against the false doctrines that are popping up all around them.

These four characteristics or traits are still valid today, because we have the same problem today - false doctrine pops up all of the time, false religions, false or heretical forms of Christianity that take the gospel and add or take away from the truth of Christ alone as our only hope.

Beginning in verse 2 we see Paul lay out these four characteristic traits for us as believers unified by Christ. The first trait we must possess is the trait of prayer.

1. We must PRAY for wisdom to serve Christ, vv. 2-6.

In verses two through six Paul states that we must be devoted to prayer.

Verse two says not only are we to be devoted to prayer, Paul says we must stay alert in prayer with thanksgiving.

We are thankful for the gospel of Christ, and we are thankful for the ability to carry everything to the Lord in prayer.

Paul says because we have this capability, we must be devoted to staying alert in prayer.

The way we remain protected from the false religions and the deceptive heresies is by remaining devoted to prayer and being alert to carefully discern the truth.

Then Paul makes a prayer request. He asks them to pray for him and those with him that they can receive an open door.

But its not an open door for them to be free from the prison cell or the chains he is in, its an open door to share the gospel.

He says pray for us to share the mystery of the gospel with even more people.

Paul says pray for me to share the gospel with the people that have put me in chains, pray for us to make Christ known.

Paul is not asking for freedom because in Christ he has already found freedom, instead he’s asking for prayer to preach the Word beyond his chains and beyond his prison cell to the prisoners of the world outside his prison cell.

Pray to act wisely toward those outside of the gospel so that you can make Christ known to them before its too late, making the most of the time that you have to reach as many as you can for the Word.

We have a unique opportunity here in America that we just waste away, because a lot of believers have become complacent.

We have a unique opportunity because we have the bill of rights that gives us the freedom to go out and share the gospel of Christ here in this country.

But we forget that that capability can be taken from us at any time. That too late - tomorrow could be too late. We need to be making the most of every moment to live according to the gospel and to be seeking opportunities to have those gospel conversations before it is too late.

Let your speech always be gracious and seasoned with salt in order to represent the gospel with truth and grace.

Why does Paul have to say gracious and seasoned with salt, or seasoned with the truth?

How many of you have met that person that has been turned away from the gospel by someone desiring to be right?

That person where someone provided all of the right answers, just in a way to win the argument.

I won’t ask how many have been that person - I will say that there have been times where I am guilty as charged.

But Paul says we need to not just strive to be right, he says we need to do so with grace. We need to live lives that serve the Lord, all the time, that’s the basis of chapter three, and in doing so we need to graciously look for opportunities to draw people to Christ.

Paul says pray for me, so that I can continue to draw people to Christ from my prison cell, and you act wisely towards the world to live lives that are pointing toward Christ all of the time and speak graciously with wisdom from the Lord so that your answers are also leading people toward Christ.

That is our first trait - we pray, staying alert and being thankful for the opportunities that God gives us through that.

The second trait we must have is the ability to enlist others,

2. We must PRESS others to serve Christ, vv. 7-9.

Paul says I can’t get to you, but I am going to send someone else to you so that you can hear about how the gospel is spreading here.

Paul sends Tychicus and Onesimus, for the purpose of telling you all about how the ministry is going for Paul.

These two men were discipled by Paul. Paul has prepared these men for the task of going out and sharing in the ministry by taking this letter to the Colossians and telling them the news of Paul and what is taking place in that Roman prison.

Paul has enlisted these men in the service of the gospel. He has pressed them into the mold of Christian service so that they are ready to go and do what Paul cannot do.

The first thing that Paul says to do is to pray earnestly for wisdom and to exemplify a life that is faithful to the Word, then the second thing Paul turns around and does is send others out to do what he cannot do.

So as believers in Christ today, we need to be praying for those opportunities to reach the world with the love and power of Christ, and then we need to be prepared to be sent.

We’re prepared to be sent when discipleship is happening, and when we are able to share in discipling others.

That means that I am in an active discipleship role, both being discipled by someone and able and ready to disciple someone.

It also means that as the teacher or the discipler, I know when to send you out to disciple others.

Paul knows he isn’t going to be released from this Roman prison to go and share this message with the Colossians, that’s why he sends these two guys that he has poured into. Paul says these two are ready to go and be faithful servants of the Lord, so I am going to send them to you to both share this message with you and to live the faith they proclaim among you.

So let’s talk about ministry today.

The way this should be working is that we are preparing those that are going to replace us in the ministry someday.

That means that our leaders are looking for those that are seasoned with salt and grace to call them to greater responsibility in the body.

That means that we are looking for those that are faithful, fellow servants, who are able to minister in truth and grace.

And then we are setting those people apart from the rest.

We are currently pursuing some individuals to add to our elders and deacons, and in doing that we are looking for those that are faithful ministers to the gospel, that have a servant’s heart, and those that are aligned with Scripture from Timothy and Titus.

This isn’t a popularity contest, this is the church leadership enlisting and pressing men to serve and lead Harmony in a way that continues to value the gospel over everything else.

Our Sunday School class continues to grow, our small groups are going to continue to grow - at some point you may be asked to be a teacher, because you have been discipled and taught and are ready to lead and serve Christ in that endeavor.

A healthy church is one where we have the ability to enlist others because we have discipled others toward the gospel.

To defend against false doctrines we must be diligent in prayer, we must seek to press others to serve alongside us, and the third trait we must possess is the trait of encouragement:

3. We must PUSH others to serve Christ, vv. 10-14.

We must encourage or push others on in their service to Christ.

Paul lists those that are in service with him that he is not sending. He says Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, Mark, Justus, Epaphras - Paul lists all of these as he encourages them and speaks kindly of them both to encourage them and to encourage the Colossians.

He says Aristachus and Mark and Justus are coworkers for the kingdom of God and they are comforting or encouraging Paul.

And these three are Jewish converts, again, meant as an encouragement because Paul has been addressing the heresy of adding circumcision to the gospel, and here Paul says only these three of those with him are of the circumcision.

Paul says they encourage me, and they are sending you greetings as well along with me.

Then in verse twelve the encouragement shifts as Paul shifts to Epaphras, who is always praying for them, so that they can mature fully and be encouraged in the will of God.

Paul encourages Epaphras in 13, how hard he prays and works for the believers in Colossae and Laodicea and Hierapolis.

And He says Luke and Demas send you greetings.

Now if you remember back in chapter 1, Paul started off with some fairly encouraging words, saying that he has heard of their faith.

Paul is encouraging them to remain faithful, despite all of the things that are coming up around them to derail them.

Paul opens with encouragement, tells them to beware these false doctrines that are popping up around them that are challenging their faith, tells them what essentially is the difference between false beliefs and true beliefs, how to live, and then closes again with encouragement.

In other words, Paul sees their struggle to faithfully serve Christ, and he sends them encouragement to stay the course and to tell them that they are loved, prayed for, and that they are remaining true to the gospel.

And I really want to hit on verses 12 and 13 for a moment here.

When we are talking about leaders, when we are talking about the elders and deacons and really all of the leaders, I want you to know that prayer doesn’t stop on Sunday morning for these folks.

When we come together for our elder and deacon meetings, we pray for you, when we come together for leadership meetings, we pray for you.

We have leaders here that shed tears and wrestle for you and seek for God’s will in your lives that you continue to grow in strength.

We pray for Harmony to be the light that this area needs, to partner with other local churches that are gospel focused to reach the community for Christ, for the body of Harmony to be the servants that god has called her to be.

If you are here and you are looking for a church that will just allow you to remain where you are and won’t challenge you to grow, won’t encourage you to become a mature Christian, then you are not in the right church.

Or, on second thought, you are in the right church because you need that encouragement to grow, and we have made it our mission to not only be authentic believers in Christ but to also connect and engage others to become authentic believers in Christ, and authentic believers in Christ desire to grow in Christ.

We must pray, we must press, we must push, and

The fourth trait we must be able to do is we must be able to empower others,

4. We must PERMIT others to serve Christ , vv. 15-18.

We must permit others to serve Christ.

And I’ll be brutally honest, this is one of those areas that I have struggled with in the past.

Because I like doing it all. I like being that jack of all trades and being all super into everything.

Paul says you, Colossians, give my greetings to those in Laodicea and Nympha. After it has been read at your church, go and read it to that church.

Tell Archippus pay attention to the ministry the Lord gave you, and do it.

Paul says don’t just keep this good work in your own church, go and spread it likewise to these other churches. Go and share of the gospel that has been presented to you with these other churches close by.

Paul says give my encouragement to those around you, and tell them this message so that they too can serve.

And this goes a couple of ways.

First, it means that when we have people that desire to serve the Lord, we need to learn how to permit them to do that which they were called to do.

And if it is someone that has grown and is mature enough in the faith to handle that task, then let’s equip them so that they are able to carry out that task. Continual discipleship, continual encouragement, continual growth for sure, but let’s give them what they need to accomplish what it is that God has called them to do.

If it’s someone that is a fairly new believer or someone that still has some work to do, then let’s provide them the tools they need to get to where God has called them to be, and give feedback and guidance and again, continual discipleship along the way so that they can achieve what it is that God has called them to do.

Now, the second thing that Paul shares here is something many churches in the area are a bit more reluctant to do.

And I’m going to share my heart here, what I believe that God has called me to do and Harmony to do.

First, before I was called to Harmony, I had been working in a church that was a revitalization. And I felt that I was called to work somehow as a revitalizer - not the type that just comes in and makes a bunch of changes and then leaves, but someone who is set on constantly reaching an ever changing culture with a never changing gospel.

And Harmony called, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I knew that God had called us here for a reason.

And God provided the church with solid leaders, Glenn and Paul and at the time Scottie was still here - solid leaders where we were all able to pray and seek what it is that God has for Harmony.

And we made some changes. Some were uncomfortable, but we worked through those and we changed the sign, and we changed the curriculum, and we changed the mission statement and the vision statement, and we did all of that to represent both who Harmony is and who Harmony wants to be - a gospel driven church that seeks to build Christ’s Kingdom.

And through all of that I believe we have gotten to a point where we are healthy, most of us are authentic, we’re connected and connecting others to Christ, we’re engaged in discipleship - I can’t tell you how encouraged I am to see how this church has grown over the past three years.

And we aren’t done yet.

Harmony Baptist Church is here, in Pulaski County for a reason. We are ready to share in pressing others to serve. Right now we have some here that are called to preach, some that are called to teach, some that are called to lead.

We are ready to push other churches in the ministry of the gospel to be encouraged and to go and do the work that they are called to do. They just need some encouragement to be rooted in the gospel and remain centered in His grace and love.

And we are ready to equip and empower other churches locally to serve alongside us in carrying reaching today’s world with the message of the gospel of Christ. It may be helping by adding tools to their tool belt, it may be training, it may be that we share in some events, but we are ready and able to equip other churches for spreading the gospel again.

Because I believe we are harmonious as a body of Christ, and I believe we are called to be harmonious with gospel focused churches here in Pulaski County, in Missouri, in our nation, and all over the world.

That’s the direction I see us heading in as a church, but where are you?

Are you devoted to prayer, staying alert to His promises and being thankful for the love and grace of Jesus Christ?

Are you called to serve Christ? Are you being pressed to use your talents, gifts, and abilities to serve and lead others in the ministry?

Are you encouraged today to faithfully live out the message of Christ?

Are you equipping others to serve Him?

All of these are important questions, because each of us are called to serve and minister in His Kingdom in some way.

But the most important question, is, if none of these apply, if you aren’t praying, serving, encouraging, and equipping, then what does your relationship with Christ look like? Do you have a relationship with Christ?

Are you following the world’s example of religion, are you who the letter of Colossians was about, or are you convicted by the message of the gospel, Christ crucified, to be who the letter was to?

Do you know Him today?

Prayer.

As the music begins to play, if you’d like to know more about knowing Christ today or if you’ve made a decision to follow Christ today or if you need to talk about something that was said or some other decision that you’ve made today, I’d like to ask you to do one of two things.

On the screen behind be is a number and a QR code, you can simply scan that or text that number and I will receive that text and we can schedule a time to talk.

The other option is there is a connect card attached to the bulletin, you can simply fill that out and when the ushers come by here in a moment you can drop that in the offering plate.

I’m going to give you all just a moment as those decisions are being made, but I want to encourage you as perhaps you are struggling with that.

If there is something going on, and you know, you are struggling with whether or not you should fill out a card or send that text, maybe you don’t know how to word it or you’re worried about some sort of embarrassment, then here’s what I want you to do. I want you to take that card, fill it out, and just write “call me” on it. We’ll set up a time to talk and the details of that, but whatever it is I want you to know that you do not have to face that decision or that situation alone.

Prayer.

Let’s worship the Lord together in song.