All right, some great singing. Praise God that we serve a God who saves. So for those of you that don’t know me, my name is Wes. I’m the pastoral assistant here, or as Aaron has newly coined me, as Uncle Wes. So do what you want with that, but if you have a Bible, go ahead and open up to Colossians 1.
We’re going to be working through verses 24 through 29. So Colossians 1, 24, 29. I’m going to read through the passage and then ask for the Lord’s help. And we’ll work through this passage verse by verse. So Colossians 1, verse 24.
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. And 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 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. Let’s pray.
God, thank you for your word. And Lord, I pray that you would use this time to speak to your people. God, we believe that you speak through your preached word, and we thank you that we can gather here to listen to it. Bless this time. We pray for your glory in Christ’s name.
Amen. So the book of Colossians is one of Paul’s prison epistles, meaning that he wrote it while in prison in rome near around 60 AD, about 30 years after the time of Christ. Paul’s other prison epistles include Philemon, Ephesians and Philippians, which we just finished studying together over the summer. Colossians was written to the church at Colossae that was started by the ministry work of a man named Epaphras, who Paul sent from Ephesus to share the Gospel in the region of Colossae. So Paul had actually never even been to the church at Colossae or seen this church.
Colossians 2:1 mentions that Paul had labored for the Laodicean Church and the Colossian Church, even though Paul says he had never actually seen either of the churches in person. Yet while Paul was in Prison in Rome. The believers at Colossae were on Paul’s heart and mind to pray for and to encourage by writing this letter, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that now instructs and encourages our church today. So the letter of Colossians was carried by a man named Tychicus who Paul sent from Rome along with another man named Onesmus that was a runaway slave from a man named Philemon who lived in Colossae and was Paul of the Colossian Church. So as you can see, there’s a lot of connections here that are being bridged between Philemon and Colossians.
Both the letter of Colossians and the letter of Philemon are found in our Bibles, were brought to Colossae at the same time. And the ancient city of Colossae can be found in modern day Turkey that used to be a Roman province of Asia, about 100 miles east of of Ephesus. And so a fun fact is that Colossae is actually located in a valley that is called the Lycus Valley. And it’s surrounded by like a bunch of forested mountains that look really beautiful. So the Colossae church was probably like a big hub for like wilderness retreats and teen Bible camps and tent revivals and all that good stuff.
Not really. No, it was not. But Colossae really is surrounded by a lot of like, amazing mountains if you look at it on Google Maps. So the book of Colossians can be broken up into two different parts. The first being chapters one and two that focus on the theology of Christ and the church to help protect the church against heretics like the Gnostics that were around at that time that didn’t believe that Jesus was God.
The second part of the book of Colossians consists of chapters three and four that focus on exhortations for proper Christian living for the church at Colossae. All that being said, we find our passage today smack dab in the middle of Paul’s theological writing concerning Christ and the church, where Paul had just got done writing one of the greatest expositions of Christ’s deity and supremacy in all of the Bible. So in our passage today, Paul is now laying out the reality of the ministry that exists for those who have been reconciled to God through the Gospel. So with that being said, let’s go ahead and look at verse 24 and we will dig into it verse by verse. So it says, now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.
This is the first time that Paul mentions his suffering by imprisonment in Rome. In this letter, Paul wanted the Church of Colossae to know just as much as the Philippian Church that his suffering was not a hindrance to the advancement of the Gospel, but actually God was with him and was using this. Paul rejoices in his suffering for suffering. His suffering is for the sake of Christ, and as a follower of Christ, this is to be expected. Paul also says he rejoices in his suffering for the sake of the Colossian Church, which Paul knows that he is an example to all the believers at the Colossian Church and many different churches, that they look to him for direction.
And so therefore Paul rejoices in suffering so that he can show them that they can also rejoice if suffering was to come their way. Paul continues to say, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of the body that is the Church. Now, at first glance, this text can seem really strange, like how can Paul fill up? What is lacking in Christ’s afflictions was like Christ’s earthly afflictions, lacking that they need further afflictions from someone like Paul. If we understand the context of what Paul had literally just said about Christ, then we would not be foolish to come to that kind of conclusion.
Colossians 1:20 says, Through Christ God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross, not Paul’s afflictions or anyone else’s. The Greek word for afflictions is also not seen once in the entire New Testament to describe Christ’s sufferings. So that being said, what is Paul exactly saying here? Paul is saying that on behalf of the suffering that Christ’s church is called to suffer, Paul is currently a direct recipient of that suffering through his imprisonment in Rome. Paul wrote in Philippians that we are to share in Christ’s suffering, becoming like him in death.
Paul rejoiced that he could receive this suffering for the sake of the body of Christ that is the Church. One Commentary says, Paul does not think he could save the Colossians from their sin and its consequences. That work is already done. But perhaps he may save them some of the present suffering by drawing the enemy’s fire upon himself. So this is an incredible point of view that Scripture gives us, like Paul himself is filling up on the suffering due to those who follow Christ, and he does this willingly for the sake of Christ and his Church.
Which brings up a good question to ask ourselves. Am I willing to endure any kind of Suffering for the sake of the body of Christ, that is the Church. In the face of suffering and persecution, the faces of those in the body of Christ should become priority over our own well being and comfort. It certainly did for Paul. So verse 25 if we continue to go on, it says Paul says, 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.
Paul understands that his day to day work in ministry and his oversight over the churches like the Colossae Church is not because of what he’s done. Rather, everything that Paul does and the churches that he cares for and builds are all given by God. Paul is a steward of this work by the commission that was given to him by God. The word steward here literally means manager of another’s household. Paul understood this to be true because he was once a persecutor of God’s church and an enemy of the cross, deserving death and judgment.
And yet God did not give him death, but gave Paul life by allowing him to see Jesus Christ and be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit that reconciled Paul back to God. So if you’re taking notes, write this down. The Gospel makes us an owner of nothing. The Gospel is God’s undeserved grace given freely to sinners who who by faith believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. We don’t deserve anything that the Lord gives us.
Yet in his grace he not only forgives and redeems his people, but he also blesses them to be a blessing to others and to further bring glory to his name. We are just stewards of God’s household, this church, the community that we live in, our jobs, our family, our health, our knowledge of God. This is all a gift from God. And we should not buy into the lie that we deserve anything that we have. We are recipients of grace and co heirs with Christ and His kingdom because of Christ the firstborn over all of creation that he has given to us.
So Paul goes on to say that he he has been stewarded with this ministry to make the Word of God fully known. Verses 26 through 27 give us some more context to what Paul is saying here. So if you look it says 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, the Word of God made fully known is this mystery revealed which is Christ in you the hope of glory. Have you ever thought, like, how incredible it is that today we live in a time where the mystery of God’s salvation for all of creation and all of time has already been unveiled and made available?
There are literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people over generations that long to see God’s salvation unveiled to the world. But they didn’t live to see it. All the prophets spoke of it, dreamed of it. The law and the writings all pointed to it, yet it remained a mystery to them. They could only gather pieces of what God would do and the one who would come to redeem God’s people.
But now we have it in its full entirety, laid out plainly in every Bible that God has faithfully preserved. Now that Christ has come in the fullness of time in the likeness of sinful man, died on the cross and rose again from the dead, the mystery has been revealed and the veil has been torn. To all who believe in Jesus, to all who call upon his name, God gives them the right to become children of God and be saved of their sin. And not only that, but to also have the living Christ live inside of them by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When a believer places their faith in Christ, our text says this is the hope of glory.
God living inside us by the Holy Spirit that that seals the hope of glory that is to come when God’s people will spend eternity with him face to face. We have the hope of glory to come because Christ lives in us. It guarantees what we hope for. It was a mystery how God would change a sinner’s heart to become alive and lead his people in a way of his commandments. But not anymore.
Now we know it is through Christ. For everyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Behold, the old is gone and the new has come. The Gospel is the word of God made fully known. And we now see Paul transitioning from his example and responsibility as a minister of the Gospel to the church’s responsibility as ministers of the gospel.
There is a responsibility that is given to the saints who receive Christ by faith. And this responsibility is described in our text as making known how great the riches of the glory of the mystery of the Gospel are to all the Gentiles around us. And the Greek word for Gentiles in the Bible actually means nations. So it was the Colossians responsibility to show how great the riches of the Gospel are to the nations. And in the same way, it is now our responsibility to show how great the riches of the Gospel are to the nations to tell the nations about God’s salvation revealed through Jesus Christ.
Paul describes the mystery of the gospel as riches of glory, for that is what the gospel is. Riches in this life bring temporary satisfaction and gain, yet we so easily make that the priority of our lives. The riches of the gospel bring people from eternal death to eternal life. The riches of the gospel not only satisfy the heart and soul of every man and woman that receives Christ now, but it also wells up a glorious satisfaction in the presence of God for eternity. The riches of the gospel are available to all.
All people groups, all tribes, all languages. And God’s saints are to show these riches of glory to the nations through Christ in us. Which is a lot easier said than done. Do we speak about the gospel as riches of glory among our neighbors and our co workers? Or do we handle the gospel as a compartmentalized attachment to our lives that we shy away from and leave behind in conversation?
It is easy for us to think, ah, someone else will show them the riches of the glory found in the gospel. Someone else will tell them, I don’t have to bring this up at this moment, but if you look back with me at verse 27, it says to them, meaning the saints who have believed in Jesus. To them God has chosen to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of the mystery of the gospel that is Christ in you. We must declare with Paul that I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of salvation for everybody who believes, including my neighbor or co worker. If you have placed your faith in Christ, God has chosen you to show the nations around you the riches of the glory found in Christ living inside of you.
So do not shy away from identifying with Christ and declaring the gospel to those around you. This passage as we’re looking at this passage, we can see how it has its roots in the Great Commission. Jesus said in Matthew 28 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
We see this even more in verse 28 of our text that says him we proclaim warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everybody mature in Christ. Paul makes it clear that his ministry evolves around proclaiming Christ. Not about proclaiming works or about what’s on the news or about celebrity Christians or about politics, but Christ and only Christ. And Paul says he and Timothy proclaim Christ by warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom. This text gives us further insight to what it means to make disciples with the goal of making them mature in Christ.
And we understand that proclaiming Christ through warning and teaching cannot be done without the word of God. Second Timothy 3, 16, 17 says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching and for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work. That is why the Word of God is our focus for our time here together and why the Psalms say that blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. Christ is found in the Scriptures. Therefore we proclaim God’s Word to all, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom.
The word for warning here can also be translated as admonishing, which means to give encouraging counsel in view of sin and coming punishment. And to be honest with you, like this is my least favorite part of discipling other believers and helping them become mature in Christ. Like, I would much rather just keep patting a person on the back and teach them more about Scripture and have Bible studies than to bring up their sin and warn them of its consequences. But this is part of making disciples. We must warn one another of sin and of the habits that neglect God and His Word in each of our lives.
But we don’t warn other believers in a condemning way. We do this in a way that is encouraging them, pushing them towards godliness and towards righteousness. The second part of proclaiming Christ in our text is involves teaching everyone. It is the responsibility of an elder to be able to teach others in the church. But that doesn’t mean that teaching God’s Word is exclusive to only elders.
As a follower of Christ, each person is tasked with the responsibility of teaching others about Christ. As I just read from Matthew 28 earlier, we teach others to observe all that Jesus has commanded in order that they may live a life of obedience to God that bears fruit for the kingdom. And we teach not only by instruction of Word, but also we teach by example. Paul wrote in Philippians 4, 9 the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things. Discipleship means living a life with God that is reproducible, teaching other believers to follow in your footsteps as you follow Christ.
And all this is done with wisdom, meaning practical biblical discernment. We practically discern how we can use biblical principles to bring about godly character in another person, which requires much prayer and intentionality. Scripture is clear that wisdom comes from the Lord. Proverbs 2, 6 says, for the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. James 1:5 says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.
So we warn and teach other believers with all wisdom that comes from the Lord as we seek him, and we read his word. Looking back at verse 28, it says, we do this so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. Our aim in discipleship is not to just like, bring people to Christ through the gospel. Our aim is to bring people to Christ and then to help them become spiritually mature. And because the more a person is spiritually mature, the more a person reflects the image of Christ and the more a believer matures into the image of Christ, the more God is glorified and the more God is glorified, the more people are impacted for the kingdom of God by a mature believer’s conduct in presenting the riches of the Gospel to the nations around them.
And to that end, Paul says in verse 29, for this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works in me. The first thing I want to mention with this verse is it’s not up to Paul’s energy to, like, try to put it all on himself that all of his ministry depends upon like. Rather, it is Christ’s energy that is poured out through the Holy Spirit that powerfully works within Paul and within every Single Believer. Acts 1:8 says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit gives us power and energy for the task of reaching the nations with the gospel.
Salvation and fruitful ministry are not dependent upon the believer, but rather they are dependent upon the God who saves and who works powerfully within his people who walk in faith. Galatians 5:25 says, since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. It is God who works within us. But we cannot just sit in the comfort of our homes and expect God to work in us as we sit on the couch watching the packers. That’s not how the Holy Spirit is going to fuel us for ministry as we see in our text in verse 29.
For this we must labor. We must intentionally and prayerfully step out in faith to both share the gospel to the lost around us and to disciple those who come to Christ through warning and teaching in general, like the lost are not going to come knock on our doors and ask to be saved, and new followers of Christ generally aren’t going to come ask you to disciple them. We must be intentionally planning how we will seek to share the gospel on a regular basis. And we must intentionally seek out believers within the church that we can prioritize to disciple and encourage so that we might present them mature in Christ. As we do this and depend upon Christ, he will guide us and give us energy to be ministers of the rich and glorious gospel to those around us.
So in light of this responsibility, I have two major questions for you. The first is how are you intentionally planning opportunities to share the gospel on a regular basis with those around you? For many of us in the church, this is an area that we struggle in. We can fill up our schedules with a lot of awesome Bible studies and sermons and activities with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Which, don’t get me wrong, like those are all very good and godly things that we must prioritize in order to grow in our walk with Christ.
But if those things take all of our time, where we don’t have any time to reach out to our neighbors, are we really being obedient to the great commission of Christ? And as I’m saying this, if you feel convicted and desire to grow in this area of evangelism, I really encourage you to come to the evangelism seminar that Pastor Aaron and I are going to be leading on Saturday, October 14th. So in two weeks from today, this will be a time where we will discuss practical ways on how we can be an effective witness for Christ. So I greatly encourage you to mark that date on your calendars. The second question that I have for you is who are you seeking to disciple in the church that they may become mature in Christ?
Discipleship is simply a byproduct of being Christian and walking with God. Jesus desires for us to make disciples by teaching and warning other believers to keep the commands of Christ. Practically, this looks like a mature Christian meeting with another Christian who is growing in their faith on a regular basis to study the Bible, to pray, and to talk about what it means to live a life that honors God in whatever culture or stage of life that one might find themselves in. And this can be weekly or bi weekly or even monthly if that’s all that time can permit. But the goal is to intentionally and prayerfully help another believer become mature in Christ.
So that they will continue to bear much fruit for God’s kingdom. And no offense as I say this, but some great candidates in the church for discipleship are college students, which I may be a little biased when I say that since I really like all the college students that are in our church and I really desire for them to grow in their walk with Christ. And so it just so happens that we have an event called Adopt a Student Day that we will have next Sunday. And so Adopt a Student Day is actually when anyone in the church can sign up to have college students come to their home after service for a home cooked meal and just spend time getting to know each other and hopefully encourage each other to keep walking with Christ. So if you’re interested and you’re interested in doing this, you can sign up through a link on the weekly email or you can just directly tell me and I will arrange for some students to go home with you.
And if you are a student or a recent graduate and you’re interested in this opportunity, then you can also just come let me know and I will hook you up with somebody in the church to give you a home cooked meal. So all that being said, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, recognize that you have been stewarded with being a minister of the mystery that has been revealed in the Gospel for the sake of the body of Christ and glory of God. If you’re taking notes, write this down. I am a minister of the mystery. This mystery is no longer a mystery to you because Christ has graciously revealed Himself to you through His Word and given you new life through faith in his name.
So take heart that God has chosen you to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery to those who are lost and separated from God. And you are not alone in fulfilling this ministry. You have the Holy Spirit living inside you that powerfully works to accomplish all of God’s purposes for his kingdom through you and as well as you have your brothers and sisters in Christ that we seek to strive together hand in hand, fulfilling this commission. So prayerfully and intentionally step out in faith to make Christ known and disciple others so that they may become mature in Christ. If you’re here today and you have a relationship with Christ, or sorry, if you’re here today and having a relationship with Christ is foreign to you, this is a very foreign concept and you are still trying to process what does it mean to be a Christian and to know God?
Understand that the riches of Christ that I talked about earlier, they’re actually made available to you Today our sin separates us from a holy God. And no matter how much good we do, it’s not enough to cleanse our sin stained souls. God’s just judgment pronounces death to all who have sinned, which is all of us in this room. But out of God’s incredible love and zeal for his glory, he sent his only Son at the fullness of time almost 2000 years ago, to save us from our sins. Jesus came to earth both fully God and fully man, humbling himself to walk in our likeness and experience sin and suffering just like the rest of the mankind.
Jesus, having not sinned and deserving no punishment of death like the rest of mankind, willingly allowed himself to be accused of wrong he did not do. Jesus was mocked, beaten, afflicted and crucified on a cross with nails in his hands and his feet. He poured out his blood as a sinless offering to God and willingly died on the cross so that sinners like you and me wouldn’t have to be separated from God for eternity. Jesus was then buried in a tomb where he was laid for three days. But on the third day, Jesus rose back from the dead, proving death has no hold over him.
And now Jesus is alive. Scripture says all who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the the dead, they shall be saved, meaning forgiven of all of their sins and made a child of God who can both know him and both now and know him for eternity in heaven. So if this is you, I urge you to respond by repenting of your sin and believing in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. And you can do that today. For there is no greater life than the one that has been reconnected with God for eternity.
This is the mystery of ages now revealed in Christ. The hope of glory. Let’s pray.
Lord, thank you for this text God. I just recognize and admit that I we just often fall short in seeking to reach the world around us and to make disciples. And I pray God that you would help us to apply your word and to follow this example we have and God powerfully stepping out in faith and allowing your spirit to proclaim Christ and to raise up the believers that are here in Red Village for your glory and your name’s sake. God help us as Red Village Church to do this well. Help us to never grow weary in sharing the Gospel and God in seeking to grow the body of Christ.
And I pray that you would help each and every person here to do that well and to trust you as we step out in faith. Thank you for this time together, God, and may your name be glorified and praised for the rest of our time together. In Jesus name, amen.