The Presentation of Members: Understanding Ministry

Colossians 1:21–29 (KJV 1900)

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Last week, we looked at the Doing part of Ministry.

The Source of Ministry = God

The Spirit of Ministry = Joy

The Suffering of Ministry = for Christ and the churches sake.

The Scope of Ministry = Do (Fulfilling our purpose).

Today, we hopefully will have an understanding of exactly what Ministry is. We will begin with

The Subject of Ministry

Colossians 1:26 (KJV 1900)

26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

What is the subject or message of ministry?

ages = times

generations = people

Now, we always get excited when we see the word mystery. Let me make sure we are all on the same page as to what we are talking about when God mentions mystery.

God has always kept some secrets.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (KJV 1900)

29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

God chooses to reveal some secrets to special people throughout history.

Who are they?

Psalm 25:14 (KJV 1900)

14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; And he will shew them his covenant.

Proverbs 3:32 (KJV 1900)

32 For the froward is abomination to the Lord: But his secret is with the righteous.

There are some things only God knows. There are also some things that He only reveals to special people, those who fear God, believe God, and obey God.

God chooses to reveal some secrets to His saints.

Colossians 1:26 (KJV 1900)

26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

So, we are going to define mystery here in this passage as a sacred secret hidden in the past but now revealed in the New Testament.

What is this secret?

The revelation of Christ incarnate. The New Testament. The story of God becoming man, in human flesh.

There are a lot of mysteries revealed in the New Testament.

The mystery of iniquity

The mystery of the rapture

The mystery of Babylon

The mystery of the bride

The mystery of Israel’s unbelief

The mystery of Godliness

The mystery of incarnation.

So, how does this relate to our ministry?

It is the fullness of the New Testament revelation.

See, the fullness of the New Testament revelation is what makes the Old Testament studies meaningful.

Our message then is that the Old Testament promises have come true in the New Testament, in Christ.

What was once hidden is now revealed.

So, this mystery is not some mystical thing it is merely something in the past is now revealed.

Colossians 1:27 (KJV 1900)

27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Here is the specific mystery that Paul is referring.

CHRIST IN YOU!

In the Old Testament, they knew the Messiah was coming. However, they didn’t know He, the Messiah, would live in the very bodies of people.

They didn’t know that our bodies would become a temple of the living God.

This is our message we have to announce to the world. This is our glory, now and future hope of glory because of Jesus Christ in us.

Do you understand the riches, value, of this glory?

The Jews, Israel, never understood the wealth of an indwelling Messiah given to the Gentiles.

This is the church. Christ dwells in us and when we assemble, we become the church, not the building but rather the people.

Now that has some value. We are definitely rich.

So, The Subject of Ministry = the Announcement to the world that God can live in them, just like He lives in me.

So next,

The Style of Ministry

Colossians 1:28 (KJV 1900)

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

What is the style? Preaching.

Some of you say good, I thought I was going to have to get involved. You do all the preaching.

Well the word simply means proclaim.

It is the language of mission, referring to declaring a completed truth.

It involves opening your mouth.

You have to live for Jesus but you also have to open your mouth for Jesus.

So, it is not formal preaching but rather just simply speaking the truth.

When it comes to speaking the truth, there are two aspects to it.

1 Negative and 1 Positive.

The

Negative = Warning

What does it mean to warn? Admonish

Admonish = encouraging counsel in view of sin and coming judgment and punishment.

2 Thessalonians 3:14–15 (KJV 1900)

14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

another verse

Colossians 3:16 (KJV 1900)

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

People need to be warned, just like little children. They have to be warned about sin, false doctrine, consequences of disobedience and spiritual laziness.

If we love them, we need to warn them.

I admonish you because of love.

Then, there is a positive side.

Positive = Teaching

Imparting positive doctrine. Teaching the Word of God.

So, we come to an unbeliever and say.

“You know if you keep living the way you live, and you keep rejecting God and Christ, I want to warn you, my brother of what’s going to happen.” And that’s warning.

And then you need to say to that same unbeliever, “Let me teach you what you need to do.” The same two things apply in the Church. If you see a Christian sinning you warn and then you instruct.

What are we warning and teaching?

Colossians 1:28 (KJV 1900)

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Wisdom!

Remember a few weeks ago we talked about verse 9

Colossians 1:9 (KJV 1900)

9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

Wisdom, if you remember, if not, I will remind you, Wisdom means spiritual principles. Spiritual understanding means the application of those principles.

Be honest with me and more importantly yourself and God right now.

Are you proclaiming the mystery of Christ through warning and teaching?

Our job is not to solve all the worlds problems. Our job is proclaim, Jesus is the answer.

Could you imagine the impact on Saline and Hot Spring County if each of us would simply open our mouth and warn people of their negative behavior and teach positive truth and Biblical principles?

This is my ministry and this is your ministry making this our ministry.

We need to be proclaimers.

but, Paul goes on

The Sum of Ministry

Colossians 1:28 (KJV 1900)

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

What is the sum or goal of ministry?

The maturity of saints.

Ephesians 4:12 (KJV 1900)

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

We want to mature people.

Galatians 3:3 KJV 1900

3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Let the Spirit do what the Spirit does. He will mature you.

Listen very carefully, you cannot get people mature until you first get them born again and when they are born again and begin maturing, they will reproduce and all of a sudden you have the ministry of Christians taking place.

How do we mature?

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (KJV 1900)

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Colossians 1:28 (KJV 1900)

28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Wow, not only does Jesus live within us but He also matures and perfects us to make us into Himself.

That is the sum or goal of ministry.

The Subject of Ministry = Christ in you

The Style of Ministry = Proclamation

The Sum of Ministry = Maturity, Looking and acting like Christ.

Lastly, notice

The Strength of Ministry

Colossians 1:29 (KJV 1900)

29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

How in the world are we going to do this?

If you are going to do it, you are going to have to Work Hard.

Labor means toil to the point of exhaustion. How many of us are actually exhausted because of ministering?

Then he mentions striving.

Striving means to agonize. It is an athletic word. In other words, you can not be lazy.

2. If you are going to keep doing it, you are going to have to get the energy from Jesus.

Are you participating in Ministry?

God has called you and empowered you to suffer with joy proclaiming the mystery that Christ can be in you.

What does the phrase 'the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles' suggest about God's plan for all people?

How can understanding the 'mystery of Christ' deepen our faith and relationship with God?

How can you share the message of 'Christ in you' with your friends in a way that resonates with them?

What is the significance of the phrase 'not only does Jesus live within us but He also matures and perfects us'?

In what ways can striving and hard work in ministry enhance your spiritual growth?

What does Colossians 1:21-29 highlight as the primary subject of ministry?

How does the concept of 'mystery' in Colossians 1:26 relate to the understanding of Christ's role in ministry?

In what ways can believers today live out the message of 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' in their daily lives?

What practical steps can we take this week to warn and teach others about Christ as described in Colossians 1:28?

What does Paul mean by saying that his ministry involves 'warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom'?