Colossians Part III: Paul's Labour for the Church

Reading

Colossians  1:24-2:5

Introduction

Let me ask you, why are you a Christian?  Why do you come to church?  Is it because of the warmth you feel in being surrounded by your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Is it because of the security you feel in coming near to God?  If you are not yet a Christian, is it these things that draw your interest in the Christian faith? 

How would you feel if I told you that being a Christian is hard work; that sometimes it's a real struggle; that suffering for what you believe at some point in your life is guaranteed?  Yes, there is the warmth, the love, the fellowship, the security, but there is also a lot of hard work to be done and total commitment is called for.  The benefits are out of this world but the cost can be all-consuming!

In today's passage, Paul tells us just how hard he has to work in his ministry and leaves us with a lot of encouragement for those who fear to get involved because of the cost, or to those who are already involved and are finding the job to be tough.

In keeping with tradition, this three-point sermon has points that all begin with 'S’ — except for the first which begins with 'C' — and the third which begins with 'O'!  We will look at

• Paul's Commission
• his Struggles, and
• his Objectives.

Commission

Paul was a man who knew what he was about, and he wants the Colossians to understand why he's qualified to instruct them.  He had very clearly in his mind what God expected of him, and twice in  chapter one he refers to himself as a servant of the gospel.  But it wasn't always like that…

We first meet Paul in the book of Acts consenting to the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and we're told he “began to destroy the church.”  Then we see him on the way to Damascus to imprison Christians but instead he encounters the Lord Jesus Christ for himself and discovers that what the Christians were preaching was all true!

Three days later in Damascus, a man called Ananias came to see him with a message from God.  God told Ananias, “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

God called the chief persecutor of the church to promote the gospel among the Gentiles.  No-one is beyond God's usefulness.  You may feel that you've been too big a sinner to be of any valuable service.  But if God can use someone like Paul then he can use you just as easily. 

We soon see Paul preaching Christ to the Jews in Damascus and immediately paying the price for it.  He has to escape for his life by being lowered down the city walls in a basket.  He experiences such opposition from the Jews that, before long, he is taking the gospel message to the Gentiles.

What a message he had!  “… God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (verse 27). 

As we know, Paul was a Jew, and he was writing to Gentiles.  If Paul was writing to counter the arguments of Jewish opponents, his words here would have set the sparks flying: those who the Jews considered worse than dogs have a share in Messiah, without further qualification!

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” is a statement charged with life-transforming power. 

Paul told us about Christ earlier in the letter.  He's the one in whom we have redemption and forgiveness; he's the image of the invisible God, the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things; He's the one who rose from the dead and in whom God's fullness dwells.  He's the one who reconciles us with God, and brings us peace. 

This wonderful, supreme person is who Paul says is “in you.”  He's not remote but made known personally to us.  God’s mystery is revealed.  Jesus is with us—here and now, and wherever we are!

It's significant that the word ‘you’ here is in the plural (Geordies would say, “Christ in yous,” and Southern Baptists would say, “Christ in yawl”.  The presence of Christ isn't just for the individual but for the gathered church.  We could read this as, “Christ among you.” 

Some say you can be a Christian without going to church.  It's true that we don't cease to be Christians away from church; and some Christians are physically unable to attend church.  But people who say this usually mean that they don't need church.  How wrong they are!  Christians don't go to church.  Christians gathered together are the church. 

God’s plan is for a body of people who are united.  Christ himself is the uniting bond between us.  When we gather together, Christ is among us, enabling us to serve more powerfully than we could on our own, and to receive grace and help that we just can't find on our own. 

We have a log-burner at home.  I've noticed that if the logs are too far apart they cool off and go out.  If they're too close together, not enough air gets in among them to feed the flames.  It's important to get the logs in the right relationship to each other so they keep each other warm and get enough air to burn well. 

Like my logs, we need each other.  We need to relate together in community to encourage each other in our faith, and to allow space for the Holy Spirit to work so that we can truly discover and demonstrate Christ among us.  Together, we can discover Christ in ways that may otherwise elude us. 

Of course, Christ in us isn't only a collective thing.  We are individually parts of the body of Christ.  As the blood in our veins carries life to each part of our body, so the Spirit of God brings life to each of us individually.  So we can each say, “Christ in me.”

Paul gives us further cause for rejoicing.  The benefit of Christ is not only here and now.  Paul wrote, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.  We've heard before that to hope is to look forward with eager expectation.  If we have Christ, we have heaven!

Struggles

Paul's message was exciting but, for him, that wasn't the whole story.  Paul was warned of suffering in his ministry.  He's not been alone.  The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of a great catalogue of saints who suffered hardship and torture for their faith.  Many have suffered in modern times under communist rule, and some still do in China.  Christian converts in Islamic states live in fear of their lives, and only recently we've seen news reports of churches in Indonesia being attacked by Islamic suicide bombers.  Others endure hardship in their places of ministry, sharing the poverty of those they're seeking to win for Christ.

Suffering

Paul had some interesting things to say about the adversity he endured.  He says,  “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

Has Paul gone mad?  Rejoicing in suffering?  He's saying that all his suffering has been worth while because salvation has come to the Colossian believers through his ministry to the Gentiles.  People have been rescued from the dominion of darkness, and the troubles he endures are nothing set against that.  Besides, Christ is Paul’s hope of glory too, and he keeps his destiny in view.

Then there's the question of exactly who is suffering here, and why.  His statement is quite puzzling, but Paul doesn't imply any lack in the redemptive work of Christ.  He's really talking about the suffering he was warned would be a consequence of his work.

When Paul first encountered Christ he heard the Lord say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  Paul was persecuting Christians.  He discovered that to persecute a Christian is to persecute Christ.  As long as Paul worked he would endure the afflictions of Christ.  And Christ would be with him in and through it all.

Remember that this dark world has rejected the light of Christ.  If we walk in the light of Christ, the world will reject us too.  We will share Christ’s afflictions.  Paul shows us that we don't suffer alone and that we can count on Christ and his strength being present with us.

Hard Work

As well as facing adversity, Paul had hard work to do!  He tells the Colossians that he “strenuously contends” and that he wants them  "to know how much [he was] contending for [them] … and for all who [had] not met [him] personally."  Paul wants the Colossians to know how important they are to him. 

Paul worked hard.  He invested his energy and his time in the service of the gospel.  He also found secular work to support himself so he wouldn't be a burden to the church.  Any of us who works full time and has commitments to church life knows how challenging this can be.

We can imagine him wrestling in prayer against principalities and powers to win ground for the gospel, and I can't imagine that Paul would have sent Epaphras to Colossae and not supported him in fervent prayer.  Whatever hardship Paul endured, it was for all the gentiles who had in some way been influenced, even indirectly, by his ministry.

Some hold back from involvement in church life; we're just too busy.  But there's plenty of work to be done.  We have to accept that sometimes it's going to be hard work, sometimes demanding, and sometimes downright discouraging.  Serving Christ is no guarantee we'll avoid adversity or hard work.  It may even lead us into persecution.  If Christ suffered, so shall we.  But that's only one side of the coin.

Supply

What kept Paul going?  How did he cope with the load?  Paul tells us what his source of strength was: "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me," (1:29).  God’s dynamo, which we considered on a previous occasion, was empowering Paul to do the job.  He was equipped for his commission.  We too can count on God's supply to do the work he calls us to.

The work that God gives us isn't always natural to us.  It can make demands on us for which we have no natural resources.  We have to rely on the strength he gives to get things done.  There's no shortage of supply!

Objectives

Paul writes, "I have become [the church's] servant ... to present to you the word of God in its fullness..."  (1:25). His first aim was to declare the whole Gospel, his second was to see God's people became all that they should be.  

Paul's message was Christ.  "He is the one we proclaim,” Paul writes, “admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ."  (1:28)

The Greek here repeats “everyone”: admonishing everyone, teaching everyone, presenting everyone fully mature.  Every believer is called to and is capable of Christian maturity.

To admonish someone means to put them in mind of something, and Paul's intent is to correct or prevent faulty thinking, such as the Colossians were being subjected to.

His teaching was to enable progress, growth and change.  We need to learn in order to grow: Jesus says, in John's gospel, “… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
 
The wisdom he's talking about is the wisdom that comes from the Spirit, which we heard about in chapter 1, not something based in human wisdom or thought.

Spiritual maturity has many benefits.  Paul writes, “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (2:2-3)

It's in being united together in community that we find encouragement, discover together a greater understanding of all we have in Christ, and find a more intimate personal relationship with Christ who is among us.

The Colossians were being challenged about what they believed.  Paul writes, "I tell you this that no-one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments," (2:4).  Growing in maturity was the third remedy to that challenge. 

In the age we live in, with all its distractions and contrary opinions of how we should behave, knowing what we believe and why we believe it is crucial for us.  Everything we need to grow is available to us in the Christ who is among us.

Are we growing?

Summary

• Commission
• No-one is beyond God's usefulness.
• Struggles
• Adversity and hard work can be expected.
• Christ is with us.
• God's supply of energy is available to those he calls.
• Objectives
• Our maturity
• That we should be encouraged in heart,
• love one another, and
• discover the fullness of Christ in us the hope of glory.