Above All: A Study in Colossians
Colossians 1:24-29
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
5-08-2022
Freedom!
[Brave Heart Clip 3:50 - 5:50]
On August 23, 1305 William Wallace was arrested and tried, he was stripped naked, dragged through the streets, hung until he almost died. Pulled from limb to limb, disemboweled and beheaded.
It’s been said that if you don’t have something you would die for, do you really have a life worth living?
That’s the message that Paul wanted to communicate to the believers in the next section of the letter of Colossians.
The Colossian Condition
Last week, Paul moved from the high theology of the Christ hymn in 1:15-20 to the application of these truths to the believers in this little church.
He reminded them of their past condition - they had been alienated from God, far from Him, separated by sin, enemies in their minds and deeds.
He then gets to heart of the matter and uses one of the most amazing “buts” in the entire Bible. Their present condition is that they have been “reconciled to God by Christ’s physical body through death.” Enemies have been made friends.
He then tells them the aim of this reconciliation, their future condition - to “present you holy, without blemish, and free from accusation.”
I quoted J.R. Briggs:
"It's been said that true freedom in Christ is when we have nothing to hide, nothing to lose, and nothing to prove. We have nothing to hide because Jesus has already covered our sin. We have nothing to lose because we are already committed to picking up our cross in pursuit of Christ. And we have nothing to prove because Christ has already taken care of it - all our sin and selfish ambitions, vain desires and self-glorifying dreams.”
Then Paul encourages the Colossians “to continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” True born again Christians stand the test of time.
Today, we will move into the body of the letter and Paul will give us the marching orders for ministers of the Gospel to follow.
Turn with me to Colossians 1:24.
Prayer
Paul’s Love for the Churches
Paul’s mention of being a servant of the Gospel sends him into a long Greek sentence in which he elaborates on what that means for him and for us.
“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. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Col 1:24-29)
Paul’s Attitude
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you…
After Jesus appeared to Paul on the Damascus road, he was blinded and led into the city. God sent a man named Ananias to pray for Paul. At first, Ananias pleaded with God because he had heard of how vicious Paul had been toward Christians. But God responded to him:
“Go! 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.” (Acts 9:15-16)
And suffer Paul did. Not only did Paul suffer physically but he also had the emotional burden of caring for the churches filled with Gentiles:
“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (2 Cor 11:23-28)
I had to remind myself of these words when I was so frustrated that I was behind someone going 40 on 24 coming back from Fairbury. That wasn’t suffering!
Was Paul writing this from an all-inclusive resort on the coast of Greece? No, he was writing this from a prison cell in Ephesus!
And yet, he says “now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you.” Was Paul a glutton for punishment? Was he so heavenly minded, that suffering didn’t bother him anymore? Not at all.
It was sort of like childbirth. I was there when Maxine delivered both of our boys. She suffered and she let me know that it was my fault that she was suffering…loudly! But there was also joy in the suffering, knowing that the baby would be there soon. And once the baby was born, there was great rejoicing.
Paul had birthed these churches in Asia Minor. He had traveled and preached and discipled and appointed leaders for years. Even though he had not visited Colossae and Epaphras had founded the church, his heart felt the weight of their spiritual health and maturity.
The tense this word is in indicates that Paul continually made the choice to rejoice. It’s a word picture of a little lamb jumping for joy. It’s something you can’t fake. It’s an outworking of the fruit of the Spirit.
Yes, he was in prison but he understood that suffering is the appointed means by which God will bring salvation into this world.
In some of his last words to Timothy, Paul writes:
“You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” (I Tim 3:10-12)
We don’t like to suffer. We try to avoid suffering at all costs. There are preachers in our culture that would like to cut these verses, and others, out of the Bibles completely and would certainly never preached from from a pulpit. It would be “too negative.”
But Paul doesn’t see it as a negative. If fact, he rejoices in what he is suffering.
Peter and the apostles were teaching in the Temple courts one day and were thrown in jail but the religious leaders. In the night, an angel let them out and there they were, in the morning, proclaiming Jesus.
They were brought before the Sanhedrin and commanded to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. They were flogged and then let go.
Luke records these amazing words:
"The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.” (Acts 5:41-42)
Paul and Silas were arrested in Philippi and beaten and flogged then thrown into jail.
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:25)
If I’m being honest, I’m not sure I would have been singing hymns at midnight.
Then Paul goes even further and writes some of the strangest and misunderstood words in the entire Bible.
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.
Wait, what? Is Paul saying that there is something lacking in Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross in our place for our sins? Absolutely not!
He just told the Colossians that they had been
“rescued from the dominion of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” (V. 13)
Through Jesus, God reconciled all things by making peace through His blood shed on the cross. (v. 20)
But now He has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death…(22)
This verse has been used by the Catholic Church to say that we need to “help” Jesus accomplish salvation with our good works that becomes part of the “treasury of merit.” This is also where the unbiblical notion of Purgatory comes from.
But the writer of Hebrews couldn’t be more clear:
“Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” (Heb 7:27)
What is Paul trying to communicate?
Obviously, his suffering did not add anything to Christ suffering. When Jesus said, “It is Finished!” on the cross, He meant it!
Our first clue is that Paul use the word “afflictions.” That word is never used in relation to Jesus suffering on the cross. It is used to describe the pressures that Paul faces whenever He shares the Gospel. It’s a word picture of severe constriction, like when grapes are pressed to make wine.
John Piper said it this way:
“Christ’s cross was for propitiation; ours is for propagation. Christ suffered to accomplish salvation. We suffer to spread salvation.”
One pastor helped me out this week with three reasons why Paul suffered.
He suffered because of Jesus. Like Peter and the apostles, he “rejoiced to be counted worthy” to suffer for the name.
He suffered for the Gentiles. He was in prison for taking the Gospel to the Gentiles but he wrote the Philippians:
“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” (Phil 3:10)
Third, he suffered for the sake of Christ’s body, the church. As the believers saw him suffer, it gave them courage to face persecution in their lives.
Jesus told His disciples, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20)
As the church, we are Christ’s body here on earth. The world hated, and still hates, Jesus. They now take out their hatred on us, the church.
Remember that the word church in the Bible never means a place but always a called out people who follow Jesus.
And Jesus made it clear that as seek to build his kingdom and spread the Gospel, we will encounter persecution and suffering. It’s something we should expect:
“We shouldn’t be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as if something strange was happening.” (I Peter 4:12)
In fact, we can join with the apostles and all the other believers that have gone before us and say with Peter:
“But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (I Peter 4:13)
Why? Because it all leads to hope:
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Rom 5:3-4)
Charles Spurgeon wrote these words:
“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”
At the Global Leadership Mini-Summit on Thursday, Ryan Holliday talked about the fact the “obstacle is the way.” It’s the way we grow and it’s the way we show the Gospel’s power.
The story is told of an Indian man who came to Christ and went to a village to share the Gospel with others. They rejected him and drove him out of the village. Dejected, he went and laid down under a tree and fell asleep. He was startled awake and there were dozens of people standing around him. The chief of the village said, “When we saw that you had blisters on your feet, we knew you must be a holy man. And you have suffered to bring us this message so we will listen.
We are called to live out Jesus’ words:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”
245 million Christians worldwide face intimidation, prison or even death for their faith in Jesus.
Point to Ponder: Are we willing to suffer so that others might know Jesus?
B. Paul’s Charge
“I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (v. 25-27)
Paul moves on to show his calling and how that calling plays out in the building of the kingdom.
He calls himself a “servant.” This word is where we get our English word deacons. It means to give up rights in order to minister to others. It is the word used of a manager of a household, much like Joseph was to Potiphar.
He is a servant of the church by the commission God give him. This calling came on the Damascus road.
When we think of calling, we often think of dramatic stories of being called.
Moses with a burning bush
Gideon hiding in the threshing floor
Jeremiah being called before he was even born
But your calling doesn’t have to be dramatic. It’s been said that a person’s calling is the intersection of their gifts and passions and the needs of the world cross.
Many years ago, I learned that my calling had to do with my SHAPE.
* Spiritual Gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience
Point to Ponder: What as God called you to? Remember, if you aren’t dead, you aren’t done. My father-in-law Patrick is almost 88. He runs a pro-life website and serves at the church several times a week. He told me this past week, “At my age, if a person doesn’t know their purpose, most of the time they are sitting around waiting to die.”
God called Paul for a specific purpose - “to present to you the Word of God in its fullness.”
To the Ephesian elders, Paul said,
“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” (Acts 20:27)
And what is Paul’s focus on his preaching? A mystery.
In Greek thought, the word mystery was usually plural because it had to do with secret rites of pagan cults that only the initiated knew.
But Paul uses the word in a more Jewish way. Mystery simply means something that was hidden but now has been disclosed, or unveiled.
What is the mystery? It’s that Gentiles would be included in the kingdom! This was unthinkable to most Jewish people. But the Old Testament had pointed to the salvation of the Gentles for ages and generations.
God promised Abraham that “all nations would be blessed through him.”
David wrote:
“The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.” (Psalm 98:2)
Paul wrote the Ephesians Gentile believers:
“…remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:12-13)
Paul’s message to the Gentiles isn’t just a mystery. It’s a glorious mystery - Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This little phrase could be its own sermon! I think most Christians understand that Jesus died on the cross, in their place, to pay the penalty for their sins so that they could have live with God forever in a place called heaven.
They understand what Christ died for them. But they don’t quite understand that, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in them!
If you take the A out of Christian and put it in front of the word it reads “A Christ In.”
This hope is a living hope, as we have been singing these past few weeks:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” (I Peter 1:3-4)
It’s a blessed hope:
“…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:13)
And its an anchoring hope:
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…” (Hebrews 6:19)
I’m thankful that Paul and others suffered for the sake of bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles because that’s us!
This life is short and we are either moving toward an eternity of glory or of torment.
Point to Ponder: Do you understand that Christ lives in you, and that no matter how dark it gets, you still have the hope of glory?
C. Paul’s Purpose
“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” (V. 28)
Who is it that Paul proclaims? It’s not a program but a Person. It’s Jesus plus nothing which equals everything.
Paul told the Corinthians:
“For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor 4:5)
How does he do that? By admonishing and teaching.
Admonishing literally means to place before one’s mind. It includes warning unbelievers of the judgement to come and challenging believers to apply the truth to every part of their lives.
We can do this with each other if we do it in love and with the motivation to help each other grow.
I was a fairly new Christian and was invited to eat lunch with a guy that I had met at church. We sat down and ordered and I began talking about a situation at church. He put his hand up and stopped me and said, “I would like to eat lunch with you. But I can’t, I won’t sit here and gossip. If that’s what you want to do, I’ll have to leave.”
For just an instant, I was angry. But that soon passed and I was convicted to the core. He was absolutely right and I apologized and thanked him for the admonishment.
Not only did Paul admonish but he also taught - this could be private or public instruction in the Word.
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
I was reminded this week again of the famous George Whitfield quote:
“Other men may preach the Gospel better than me, but no man can preach a better Gospel!”
A 70 year old blind woman in Africa came to faith in Christ. She came to the missionary and asked that he would underline John 3:16 in her French Bible. He was curious as to what she would do.
The next day, she waited outside of the boys school and when they started to come out she asked two boys if they would read the underline verse to her. They did and then she proceeded to share the Gospel with them.
We are to do this with all wisdom - sanctified common sense.
James writes:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)
And what is Paul’s goal? “To present everyone fully mature in Christ.”
Everyone means everyone. In the early church, there were slaves and free, Jew and Gentile, male and female.
Peter wrote this promise:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
You may ask why Jesus hasn’t come back yet. He may very well be giving you a little time time to repent and come to faith.
The goal is maturity, or Christlikeness.
Sinclair Ferguson has written:
“In a word, maturity equals Christlikeness. No other standard may be allowed to substitute. All other standards will be lesser, man-made alternatives that disguise the all-demanding standard God sets before us in the Scriptures.
Zeal, knowledge, orthodoxy, and success would be easier standards by far. What would be particularly attractive about them, of course, is that we could measure ourselves and others against them with some degree of satisfaction in our own performance. We might even, in this case, be obviously more mature than others!
But God's standard is none of these things. The only thing that counts, according to Paul, is being like Jesus. Are you growing more and more like Him? Then you are maturing as a Christian. But then and only then…"
Philippians 1:6:
“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6)
This should lead to humility:
I love this quote from Mark Batterson:
“The true litmus test of spiritual maturity isn’t how much you know. It’s knowing how much you don’t know. It’s coming to terms with the fact that God is not an object of knowledge as much as He is a cause for wonder.”
Point to Ponder: Are you willing to be admonished and taught in order that you become spiritual mature?
D. Paul’s Energy
To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
The words Paul uses here are strong. Agonizing. There was a girl in our youth group who was a track star. When I would ran a 5k, she would ask, “Did you throw up at the finish line?” When I said no, she would say, “Then you didn’t run, you went for a jog!”
We give 110% in our efforts to build the kingdom and God will power us from the inside out.
John Wesley often road 60-70 miles a day on horseback and preached 3 times a day into his 70s.
Here’s a verse we should all memorize:
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (I Cor 15:58)
Last week, I was sick. I really didn’t feel good and didn’t have much of a voice. I simply prayed that when I am weak God would be strong. Several people told me that it was one of the most powerful sermons I’ve preached here.
But that’s not about me. That’s a perfect example of this verse in action!
Martin Luther wrote the words that we sang earlier:
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
Are we Willing to Pay the Cost?
From these verses, we learn we are called to
Suffer Physically
Serve Faithfully
Share the Mystery
Push the kingdom forward relentlessly
One day Joseph, who was walking along one of these hot, dirty African roads, met someone who shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. Then and there he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The power of the Spirit began transforming his life; he was filled with such excitement and joy that the first thing he wanted to do was return to his own village and share that same Good News with the members of his local tribe.
Joseph began going from door-to-door, telling everyone he met about the Cross [suffering!] of Jesus and the salvation it offered, expecting to see their faces light up the way his had. To his amazement the villagers not only didn't care, they became violent. The men of the village seized him and held him to the ground while the women beat him with strands of barbed wire.
He was dragged from the village and left to die alone in the bush. Joseph somehow managed to crawl to a water hole, and there, after days of passing in and out of consciousness, found the strength to get up.
He wondered about the hostile reception he had received from people he had known all his life. He decided he must have left something out or told the story of Jesus incorrectly.
After rehearsing the message he had first heard, he decided to go back and share his faith once more. Joseph limped into the circle of huts and began to proclaim Jesus. "He died for you, so that you might find forgiveness and come to know the living God" he pleaded.
Again he was grabbed by the men of the village and held while the women beat him reopening wounds that had just begun to heal. Once more they dragged him unconscious from the village and left him to die. To have survived the first beating was truly remarkable. To live through the second was a miracle.
Again, days later, Joseph awoke in the wilderness, bruised, scarred--and determined to go back. He returned to the small village and this time, they attacked him before he had a chance to open his mouth. As they flogged him for the third and probably the last time, he again spoke to them of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Before he passed out, the last thing he saw was that the women who were beating him began to weep.
This time he awoke in his own bed. The ones who had so severely beaten him were now trying to save his life and nurse him back to health. The entire village had come to Christ. This is one vivid example of what Paul meant when he said, "I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body.”
Are you willing to pay the price?
Ending Song: Living Hope
