The Vision We Have (The Dire Need For Gospel Ministry)

Open Your Bibles this morning to Colossians chapter 1…

Mind control is an interesting topic. some of you may scoff when you think or it, but I will tell you with every moment it becomes a reality. Neil Postman in his 1986 book, Amusing Ourselves To Death, makes a compelling case for a sort of mind control and persuasion through television. How much more is this true through social media, AI, and the likes… It was actually admitted there are a couple agencies working today to develop even strong mind control, and the end game is great confusion.

This isn’t a new phenomenon but one that is growing easier to carry out... In his 1985 book entitled “Amusing ourselves to death” Neil postman makes the argument that humanity has given up thinking for themselves because of the rise and ease of modern media. We simply turn on the TV and drink in what is told to us without thinking about it… How much more true is that today 40 years later? Modern media, ai, corporations like google that have a grip on the internet are all doing the bidding of the devil by seeking to demolish the sanctity of truth and scramble your mind to the point where you are apathetic enough to say, just let the professionals and experts take care of it… Apathetic enough to stop thinking and simply do what you’re told.

This morning I want to convey to you a real opportunity the church has today to provide hope in a “mind control” type of world. It may at times seem hopeless, but only if we take our eyes off of the gospel. Jesus provides us great hope, and through I’m the church has so much hope to offer when it comes to guarding our hearts and minds. Lets look at Colossians 1 starting with verse 24..

let’s read Colossians 1…

Colossians 1:24–2:5 ESV

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

I. Paul stewards the church as one appointed by God (V 1:24-25a)

Before Paul began his ministry Jesus prophecied the legacy of Paul. In acts 9, Jesus said, Paul is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. Paul was a chosen instrument of God. Now in Colossians 1:24 when he says that he is making up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions, Paul does not mean that Christ’s death or suffering was insufficient. Rather, God chose Paul to suffer. And he is, as he writes this letter he is in prison awaiting trial. Jesus chose him to suffer that the church might know the terror of his wounds, yet see the unflinching boldness of his witness, and be persuaded to carry on in Gospel ministry.

Paul became a minister, verse 25, literally servant in the greek. And his task was to steward. Or manage. He literally says that God gave him a managment position for the sake of the church. Managment is something many of us understand. We have either had a manager or been a manager at one point in time. Very similar, Paul was to oversee and use his gifts to keep watch over, guide, and build up the church On behalf of His employer…

But here is where our understanding of christian management has gotten a little wonky as of late. In the modern church we would say yes and amen, the church needs managed. Yet when we consider what successful church management looks like what are some things churches would say? A big building, all the seats filled, the budget growing, countless good works being done, and everyone happy!

But consider Paul...

II. Paul's stewardship expectation was to present the church mature in the knowledge of Christ (v 1:25b-29)

He says he was given a task to make the word of God fully known to them. Which he clarifies, that this word of God was a mystery hidden in the past ages, right? What does that mean? The first time we see a prophecy of a savior is in Genesis 3... But they were confused. It was a mystery to them as to who this savior would be…

Moses prophecied of a savior to come in Deuteronomy 18… But this was confusing, what did it mean? Who would be raised up in their midst to save them?

David was told that one from his line would come and his throne would last forever… Was it Solomon? It looked like it for a minute. The sovereign promise of God was a mystery which was veiled until the coming of Jesus. The mystery is Christ! All the promises were fulfilled in Christ! All of salvation is fulfilled in Christ! The new covenant, paid for and sealed by Christ.

To the Colossians Paul says, Him we proclaim. One message. Who would save the nations of the earth? Who would reconcile the nations to God? Who would be sufficient to pay for the sin of those who believe? Jesus… Who would speak the truth which would set the captive free? Who would manifest the divine love of God? Who would keep the whole law and never sin once? Jesus: the image of the invisible God(as we read earlier in Colossians 1).

Paul was a steward of Christ, but as any steward has expectations laid on him, what was the expectation of Paul?

The expectation laid on him was to mature the saints in Jesus. Therefore I can say with boldness that a good steward, one who is overseeing the church, is utmost concerned that God is being glorified through Christ being revealed in knowledge and power. Every Christian in a sense is a steward, for you have been given a treasure! Christ is your treasure. So, how will you steward him? A good steward, whether in the home, or in the church, or in the world is to take their lesson from Paul. Good stewardship is defined by the resolute desire to see people maturing in Jesus and working to that end.

What does that end look like?

Come a few pages back with me to Ephesians 5:25... Paul says in Ephesians 5:25-27

Ephesians 5:25–27 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Christ’s example of sacrifical love comes with an end, we might call it a vision. What Christ saw in the world in his present age was wickedness and sin. He saw hopelessness… That was the reality. But he had a vision of what it would be. He had a future hope that he saw was going to happen. He saw beauty. He saw salvation. He saw a people purified, made holy, washed of their sin, strengthened in their love, made effective in bringing his Father glory. However, what it would take for this vision to be complete... was his death.

Paul was given an expectation as a steward of the church, which was the same expectation Jesus had of himself… Through the gospel he was expected to work to mature the body by revealing more of Jesus. That they would know him, and be purified and spotless. Let me tell you, this is how discipling works. The more you know of Jesus the greater your sin is before you. The more your sin is before you the less you willingly commit sin. The more you know Jesus the better eyes you will have to see His glory, and His worthiness of all of your praise. And in turn you will see how you give your praise to so many things that don’t deserve it…and the vision is that people would turn from giving worthless praise to giving praise and honor and glory to Him who deserves it.

In his death it was finished. The work was complete. There is nothing lacking in the blood of Christ. Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:6 that He who began a good work in you will see it through to completion. Why? Because the work of Christ is sufficient. It will bear fruit. It will purify and make holy as HE is pursued.

Only consider this. If you do not struggle with sin, if you are not being made holy, washed of your guilty conscience, strengthened in love toward God, and your wife, and your neighbors, but gladly living in the pleasures of your flesh, how do you know that a good work has begun in you at all? Indeed, if you do not have a single grief over your sin, that good work has not yet begun and you are presently lost without God.

Therefore before we continue I plead with you to pray to the Father to show you your sin. That you go to the father now and plead for your heart to be enflamed with a passion and a desire for holiness and maturity in Christ.

And here is my third point,

III. Paul’s stewardship is essential because of the vast amounts of false gospels which lead people away from God (v 2:1-5)

And Paul toiled and struggled because of this. The reason Paul relentlessly sought to warn and teach the body of Christ in all wisdom, is because of the counterfits… there are so many worldly philosophies and human traditions that are trying to steal your mind and cause you to stray away from God. This is actually the end of satan, is to get you to believe a counterfeit and turn away from God.

Paul says, I say all of this so that people won’t delude you. Or lead you astray in false belief. There are so many plausible ones out there, aren’t there? Who wouldn’t want the doctrine of the universalism to be true, that everyone will be saved and there is no hell. Who wouldn’t want the doctrine of the mormon church, or the catholic church, to be true, that you can essentially work and buy your way into heaven? Who wouldn’t want the doctrine of the superficial church to be true, that you are good enough just the way you are and no matter what, God will love you and you will be saved.

All of those are plausible, and easy on the ears, but none of them are true. This is an age old problem of taking parts of truth, adding lies to them, throwing in worldliness that tempts our flesh, and in turn leading people away from God. The devil said… “Did God really say?”… The Pharisees said, “God said you must do it all right!” … And the liars of our day say, “God loves everyone, for all things, at all times”…

The remedy to keep people from believing these lies and giving their minds over to them is the faithful minstry of the church. We are essential as a church. Here we come back full circle, because here is our opportunity. How does one keep their minds from becoming numb or deluded to the lies and manipulations that are EVERYWHERE? Knowing the truth. What is the ministry of the church? To pick up Paul’s baton and tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Laboring to teach and preach and show the truth of God and his gospel of salvation so that the church may become mature and strengthened in Christ. So that no matter what you see on TV you know true wisdom and where to find more of it when you need it.

A few months ago I asked the women who gathered for what used to be known as CWF, where they desired to see our church go in the next ten years, they said this.

See the church grow in number.

A possible co-op for children’s education.

Topical teaching for young adults tough questions.

Older couples mentoring younger couples.

The church to grow stronger as a family.

For more people to actively serve the body in Joy.

For intentional one on one discipling.

Plans for outreach.

A biblical leadership structure.

Wonderful things… So we as elders had been praying and asking the Lord, where is it we are supposed to be going as a church and how can we communicate where we want to go as leaders and lead the church? Therefore, we as Elders want to put this vision statement before you…

- Rather than being carried away and deluded through countless counterfeit Christless gospels taught in our day, we seek to see the church of God matured and strengthened in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through the teaching of the Bible. We toil to see minds transformed, hearts encouraged, knit together in love, steadfast in Christ, and fully assured of all God’s promises through the administration of God’s wisdom as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit and delivered to us through the Apostolic teaching. We understand all of this will be accomplished not through the strength or intelligence of men, but through the power of God and in His providence. (Colossians 1:28-2:5, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Corinthians 3)

Are you ready to adopt this? It isn’t a flashy statment that we are going to serve 1,000 families in the next 5 years, or we are going to baptize 100 people in the next 10 years or anything like that. But it is the vision of Christ himself. We want to remain faithful to the mission and vision of Christ to teach his commands both in word and deed. Many ministries will spring from this. But the difference is, instead of saying, we are going to build up this church and attract more people by adding big screens, and flashing lights, and watering down our message to make it acceptable for everyone… we are saying, “HE will add to our number, he will save people, He will make us more of a family, he will help us equip people to mentor, he will move people toward baptism, he will lead us to create various ministries as we need them etc in his time as we remain faithful”… We must keep spirit of readiness, but one committed to the gospel, one that never loses sight of this vision, for it is the vision of Christ, and the apostles, on which the church is built.

What should make you excited to serve in the nursery, to teach Sunday school, to come to any of the studies we provide, to come on sunday morning, to give financially to, and to get on your knees and pray for the mission of the chruch is this vision right here. That you and others under the providence of God will be, not might be, but if we allow this vision to dictate everything we do together as a church, you and others will be subjected to the power of God for salvation. That under the ministry of the word, the lost will be found, the found will be strengthened, and hope will be given to all.

Listen to this, Noted chaplin in the civil war, E.M. Bounds once said that men are always looking for better methods, but God is always looking for better men because men are Gods methods…

Sinclair Ferguson adds to that in our modern era, that men are often looking for bigger and bigger churches, but God is looking for better churches because better churches are Gods methods..

We as elders want to be a better church. What can create better men and women than this? That the church matures in Jesus. What creates a healthier church than this, that the word of God is proclaimed to warn and teach and train?

May God add to our number those who are being saved and may he make us content, resolved, and faithful in our stewardship of the Gospel of our Lord and King.