The Anatomy of the Church – A study of the prison epistles
INTRODUCTION
We are starting a new series based out of the book of Colossians. The series is called “The anatomy of the Church” and in reality the series will go beyond Colossians and end up covering four of the books from the Apostle Paul. We will be looking at Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians and Philemon. And then, time willing this year, we may crack open the book of Galatians as well. I also have a couple short series that will be interspersed here and there.
But the four books in particular that we will look at, Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians and Philemon, are all from the NT and they are in a group of letters called the prison Epistles.
By the way we will use the word epistle quite often in this series. Epistle is one of those churchy words that you will usually only hear in a sermon or Bible study. But it’s from the Greek word epistol; which means 'to send a message to'.
But the prison epistles or prison letters are called that because they were written at the same time by the Apostle Paul while he was imprisoned in the city of Rome.
He took these four letters, entrusted them to four faithful messengers, and then sent them off to their respective destinations. These four letters, when taken as a whole, give us the anatomy of the church, the makeup of a true Christ follower. That’s where we get the title for our series.
And what I want to do this morning it introduce those messengers and letters, and then spend a few minutes talking about how we need to receive the word of God as we travel through this series here in 2010.
But jumping back almost 2000 years ago to the year 62 AD. Four messengers are chosen because of their trustworthiness and dedication and Paul entrusts to their care four of the most valuable documents in the history of mankind. These messengers leave Rome carrying a document that, although they can’t have any idea, will influence millions of people in the centuries to follow.
Who were those four messengers?
Well, the first was a man named Tychicus (Tik-i-kus).
TYCHICUS
(often mispronounced Tich-i-cus because of the spelling) was carrying the letter to the Ephesians over in the city of Ephesus where he would later become the pastor or the leader of that church. (possibly and probably carried letter to Colossians as well – confusion on this part – did he just visit on behalf of Onesimus or did he carry the letter.)
And of the four messengers we probably know the most about this one. Tychicus is mentioned 5 times in the New Testament. He was a Christian convert from Asia and a friend and companion of the apostle Paul.
At different times in the NT we find Tychicus delivers apostolic letters to Ephesus and Laodacia. We find him making a visit to the Colossian church. He later, at the request of Paul took over the ministry duties of Titus on the island of Crete and then later took over for Timothy as Pastor of the church in Ephesus. This freed Timothy up to go be with Paul.
Tychicus was a faithful companion of Paul and servant of Christ right up the very end and he was instrumental in the spread of the early church. And for a guy that did so much and was so faithful to Christ it’s amazing that so few people know of his existence.
Before this sermon I doubt that 80% of you had ever heard, or remembered hearing, the name Tychicus. No one names their kids after him like we do with the other great figures of the New Testament. No one seems to acknowledge the great work that he has done.
And yet he faithfully carried out his duties. The obvious application here is that we need a lot of people like Tychicus in the church…..
Well, the second guy was named:
EPAPHRODITUS
And Epaphroditus carried Paul’s letter to the Philippians
Epaphroditus is mentioned only in the letter he carried and from that letter we gather that Epaphroditus was the pastor of the church in the city of Philippi. He had been sent with a gift from the church to aid the Apostle Paul while he was in prison and now Paul was sending him back to the church with his letter of encouragement.
On his arrival at Rome, Epaphroditus devoted himself to "the work of Christ," both as an assistant to Paul personals as well as an assistant in the missionary work. And the Bible tells us that he worked so hard that his health eventually broke. He was near death but managed to rally in his health. It was at this point that Paul sent him back to Philippi with this letter.
On the surface, the purpose was the encourage Epaphroditus’ friends, who had heard of his serious illness. But you have to wonder if Paul, in his devotion to the mission, couldn’t be burdened with taking care of this guy any longer.
It brings up one of the most difficult aspects of serving God…..uncontrolled circumstances.
What happens when your heart is in the right place but circumstances beyond your control don’t allow you to carry out what your hearts desire.
Here is a guy who has made the big time. He is serving alongside the Apostle Paul. He had been a faithful minister in his church and he was sent off to the big leagues. This was “local boy makes good” – off to minister with the Apostle Paul. But now he can’t hack it because of health and must return.
That had to be especially tough. And Paul knows this and tries to encourage both Epaphroditus and the church:
Paul calls him "my brother and fellow-worker and fellow-soldier." And it’s interesting that the three terms are used in an ascending scale. They shared a common faith, a common work, and were engaged in a common danger.
Paul told the church to receive Epaphroditus with joy and hold him in great honor.
The third messenger was a man with a similar name. His name was:
EPAPHRAS
And Epaphras carried Paul’s letter to the Colossians (debate here - we will address it in a minute)
From the Scriptures we learn that Epaphras was with Paul during a part of his 1st Roman imprisonment, joining in Paul's greetings to Philemon. Epaphras was not just a messenger but he was the missionary through which the Colossians had been converted to Christianity.
Note down in verse 7 of chapter 1. “You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.”
It also seems clear from later on in the book that he had a hand in spreading the Gospel to a number of other congregations as well including those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
Now I want to sidetrack here because I mentioned that Epaphras brought this letter to the Colossians but I will admit that there is some question or confusion on this matter. Three of the four guys we are talking about had a connection to the Colossian church and it’s a little confusing over which one actually carried the letter (not that it really matters).
Onesimus was from the church, as was Epaphras. Tychicus had a connection to the church in that he was sent there to be a character reference for Onesimus and to give further explanation.
Because of this many scholars think Tychicus carried the letter. One particular reason is because in chapter four it mentions how Tychicus would explain some things to them and it talks about Epaphras sending his greetings. I admit that it would be odd for Epaphras to send his greeting if Epaphras we delivering the letter.
But then there are others that think that Epaphras brought the letter. The Bible Scholar J. Vernon McGee takes this stance and says the greeting in chapter four by Epaphras was because the letter was to be shared with the other congregations.
Either way it doesn’t really matter.
What does matter is that Epaphras took seriously the call to share his faith and an entire region, and eventually an entire world, was impacted because of that. He was a pretty big deal.
By the way, I find it interesting that you have to search long and hard to find any picture from history depicting Epaphras. I think that’s sad because this guy helped plant at least three of the early churches including Colossians. No one remembers him or names their kids after him or draws pictures of him.
But regardless, Epaphras had brought to Paul good news of the progress of the gospel. Paul's regard for him is shown by the terms he uses to describe Epaphras. He calls him "our dear fellow-servant," "a faithful minister of Christ" (Col 1:7), and later on he will refer to him as "a bondservant of Christ Jesus" (Col 4:12 margin). That last term is one Paul uses several times of himself, but he only uses twice to describe other people, one of those being Epaphras (Phil 1:1).
The last messenger has a different task. The last messenger’s name is:
ONESIMUS
And Onesimus takes his letter to an individual named Philemon…former owner…
Philemon was a wealthy citizen of Colosse, and a prominent member of the church there. Onesimus was not a Christian when he defrauded his master and ran off from Colosse.
He found his way to Rome, where he came into contact with Paul, who was then in his own hired house, in military custody.
What brought him into contact with Paul we do not know. But the result of their meeting was that Onesimus was converted to Christ. And now he finds himself heading back to Colosse with a letter for his former master Philemon.
I wonder if he knew the content of the letter which urges Philemon to no longer consider Onesimus a slave but a brother in Jesus Christ. If he did know he had to know that he carried for himself the most valuable piece of paper he could ever possess.
Not only did it urge for a change in his status, but the great Apostle Paul refers to Onesimus as one “who is my very heart”. Think about that. The man left Colossae with the reputation of a theiving, runaway slave, he is sent back to them, not as a slave but as a brother, and one who is dear to the heart of Paul.
And so these four messengers: Tychicus, Epaphroditus, Epaphras, and Onesimus, depart from Paul and take these four great letters to their destinations.
These four letters, known as the prison letters or prison epistles have continued to impact the lives of millions throughout the years.
Together, these four letters have been called the anatomy of Christianity, or the anatomy of the church. They are called that because the subjects of these letters cover all aspects of the Christian faith:
COLOSSIANS directs our attention to Christ who is the head of the body of believers. Christ is the theme. He is the center of the circle around which all Christian living revolves.
PHILIPPIANS talks a lot about the heart….motives and attitudes in suffering and Servanthood…
EPHESIANS then begins the instructions for living that faith in everyday life…husband, wife, child, worker, etc.
And then PHILEMON gives us Christianity in action. We would say it is where the rubber meets the road. It demonstrates Christianity worked out in a pagan society.
And so these four messengers carry this vital information to their respective destinations. And don’t you know how valuable and important those that received the word must have considered it?
Why don’t we approach it with anything close to the value and import today? And we don’t, and yet we should. As we go through this series, let’s approach these letters with a zeal and enthusiasm that is similar to that which greeted the arrival of these letters in their locations.
NEXT WEEK - Colossians. 1:1-14
