Colossians 1:24-29
These are exciting days. We’ve seen the birth of Evansville Bible Church. We’ll shortly be in a new building with new opportunities. But what are we after? What is God’s will for our church? I don’t know of a better description of what we’re to be about than Colossians 1:24-29. Paul lays out the gold standard of a biblical, Christ-honoring ministry and we want to follow it. We don’t take our cues from a godless culture, trying to be popular or attractive or even relevant to a world that hates Christ and the Bible. We take our cues from this man Paul, who took his cues from God.
I picture Paul at the front of a long line of pastors, missionaries, and Bible teachers down through the centuries. With him are Timothy and Titus, then came Polycarp and Athanasius, then you jump up to Luther, that great reformer, followed by Calvin and Knox, all those Puritans, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle and many others right down to our day. But you go to the front and there you see this short, bow-legged, long-nosed converted Jew.
We really don’t know what Paul looked like, but we do know he was a man who loved and lived for Jesus Christ and set the gold standard for ministry. I recently watched a documentary on the life of Bob Hope. He lived to be 100. But what did he live for? His great goal was to make people laugh. Paul, what was your great goal? “My great goal is to preach Christ and pour myself into serving the body of Christ. There is no higher privilege.” Paul wouldn’t exchange it for the world, even though it cost him his life. Paul set the gold standard of what Christ-honoring ministry looks like. We are called to the same high purpose. Let’s learn from Paul as he gives us five marks of a Christ-honoring ministry.
JOY IN SUFFERING – vs. 24.
Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
Paul found great joy in ministering Christ to others, in spite of hardship and suffering. Does that surprise you about the apostle Paul? Paul was constantly rejoicing, even when things got tough, like right now, sitting in jail. Paul doesn’t say he rejoiced because of his sufferings. He wasn’t like, “Yeah, man, bring on the suffering so I can rejoice even more.” No, he rejoiced in his sufferings because he knew he was suffering because of Christ and the church.
Think about Paul’s ministry in Acts. Basically everywhere he goes people are harassing him. If they aren’t stoning him they are dragging him before the local courts and charging him with stirring up a revolution, throwing him into jail. But he rejoiced at the privilege of suffering for Christ.
Joy even in suffering is a key mark of a Christ-honoring ministry. No matter how hard it gets, how many people turn against you, what the government does to persecute the church, Paul says, “Keep on rejoicing!” You see this throughout Acts. They went on their way rejoicing. Not dour, sour, angry, whining, full of self-pity. If we’re walking around looking like we just bit on a piece of glass, we won’t be honoring Christ.
But what did Paul mean about “filling up what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions?” He certainly didn’t mean that he was adding to the value of Christ’s work on the cross. You can’t add to the value of Christ’s work on the cross. He cried “It is finished” and that meant His death paid in full for all the sins of all His people.
Paul is talking about the afflictions that Christ said we would experience in this world, just like He experienced. He told us we’d suffer afflictions, just like He did. The world hates Christ and takes it out on His people. When you stand for Christ in this world you will suffer persecution in one way or another. First Peter 4:13 says to the degree you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. The first mark of a Christ-honoring ministry – joy even in suffering. We ought to be a joyful bunch of saved sinners! Remember this when the culture or the government turns up the heat on the churches.
Along with joy is this compelling sense of God’s calling or stewardship in the body of Christ.
FAITHFUL TO YOUR STEWARDSHIP
Col 1:25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God…
There are two words I want you to see. The first is “minister.” You see it at the end of verse 23. There is nothing high and mighty about being a minister in the church. This word, diaconos, means someone who waits on tables or cleans up after the party. In the church, he’s someone who serves Christ by serving His people, whatever the needs. It might mean cleaning up the toilets when they overflow. No job is too menial for a minister.
The second word is “stewardship.” A steward is a manager of an owner’s property. It’s a position of great trust and responsibility. Paul says his stewardship was entrusted to him for the sake of the church. First Corinthians 4:2 says a steward must be faithful. Just do what the boss says, right? Joseph was a steward for Potiphar. He maintained the household when Potiphar was away. He was faithful, even when tempted to compromise with Mrs. Potiphar. Every believer is a steward. First Peter 4:11 says, “As each one (that means you) has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
But what did this stewardship involve for Paul? What is Paul doing? He’s not up there in prison writing books about the systemic injustice of Roman society. He isn’t calling on Christians to march on Rome to force the authorities to release him. No, even in his imprisonment he’s pouring into the church, “for your benefit,” by refuting false teaching and feeding the church all these great truths of Christ and what it means to be a believer. That’s the major ministry God has called us to.
And how do you go about it? You “fully carry out the preaching of the Word” and you don’t shave off the sharper edges of the Word. Remember Micaiah in 1 Kings 22? Ahab wanted to fight against Ramoth-Gilead but he wanted assurance of success. All the fawning toady prophets said, “Yes, go up. You will win.” Then Ahab sent a messenger to bring the fundamentalist prophet Micaiah to the court to prophecy. The messenger tried to prep him, “Say nice things, Micaiah. All the other prophets are favorable to Ahab’s plan. Tell Ahab what he wants to hear.” Here’s what Micaiah said in verse 14, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I shall speak.”
That’s fully carrying out the Word of God. Preach the Word, holding nothing back, hiding nothing, changing nothing. It may be offensive to people. That doesn’t matter. Don’t shape the message to make it culturally relevant. It may rub people’s fur the wrong way, but like one old preacher said, “Let the people turn around.” This is a huge part of the gold standard of Christ-honoring ministry – faithful to the whole Word of God. Paul exhorted Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 to preach the Word, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with patience and solid doctrine. People will turn to myths and false teaching, wanting their ears tickled. Don’t cave. Be sober, endure hardness. Be faithful to God’s Word. That’s what we are committed to for the benefit of the church. The third mark of a Christ-honoring ministry is…
EXALTING CHRIST
Col 1:26-27 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
A mystery in the New Testament was a truth that wasn’t revealed in the Old Testament and no amount of human reason would have figured it out. God has revealed it. There are a number of other mysteries, but this one blew the socks off people like Paul and he never got over it. What is it? First, it is the fact that through faith in Christ, Jews and Gentiles have the very same standing before God. In the Old Testament, God’s focus was on Israel. But now, Gentiles are co-members in the body of Christ.
But it goes further than that. Christ is God’s treasure for Gentiles as well as Jews. See that? The wealth of God for you and me is what? That Christ would not only be with you, but live in you, even though you are a filthy, dirty, ceremonially unclean, bacon-eating, ham-chewing Gentile! This was the problem with the Judaizers in Galatians. They wanted the Gentile believers to become Jews. No, God’s mystery revealed is that Christ would live in Gentiles as well as Jews. This is the great mystery that Paul rejoiced in. He traveled from one Gentile city to another offering them Christ and the hope of forgiveness and eternal life in Christ. Paul emphasizes the riches of the glory of this mystery. Christ is in you. He is all you need. He is sufficient for you. He brings all His spiritual riches with Him into your life. Paul declared in Galatians 2:20, “Christ lives in me.”
What an assuring truth. When Christ was in that boat, it could not sink. When Christ comes to live in your life, He’s there to stay, and where He is, there you will be. You are eternally secure. And with Christ in you, as you grow in Him He becomes more visible through your spiritual character.
And notice at the end of verse 27, Christ in you is your hope of what? Not health, wealth, and prosperity, or having all your diseases healed. No, Christ in you anchors your soul to eternity. He is your hope of coming glory! Paul’s greatest joy was to exalt Christ among the Gentiles.
Rejoicing in hard times, faithful to your stewardship, exalting Christ…
BUILDING UP GOD’S PEOPLE
Col 1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
This verse captures God’s vision for what the church is to be doing. It is excellent. I want you to see five key elements we’ve got to keep fresh and alive as we preach, teach, counsel, encourage, and minister as a church.
1) We proclaim a Person. Not the law, opinions, philosophy, tips for healthier living. Paul knew this world didn’t need Freud or Darwin or Marx. They don’t need inspiring pep talks. People are sinners headed for hell and they need to hear about Christ in all His person and work. Christ is the sum and substance of our message.
2) We build up every believer. Three times Paul speaks of “every man.” The word for man is anthropos, the generic word for mankind. It includes men and women, boys and girls. This is not a football game with most of the people sitting in the stands. No, everyone is on the field. If you are a Christian, then all the truth of God’s Word is to build you up in the faith and mature and equip you for ministry.
3) We admonish every believer. Paul gives us two words here that summarize the ministry of the Word, admonish and teach. Admonish means taking God’s word and applying it to your life so you can change and grow. It may be encouraging, exhorting, or warning. We need to be admonished all the time. When Paul met with the Ephesians elders in Acts 20, he warned them of false teachers rising up among them. He added in Acts 20:31, “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”
4) We teach every believer with all wisdom. Do you wonder why we keep on digging into the Word and bringing it out and trying to unpack it so we can see what it says and how it applies to our lives? Two words you should be familiar with. “Exegesis” means bringing out the meaning of the Word. “Exposition” means you then exposit or expose what the Word is saying in preaching. So we teach verse by verse, book by book, digging in and unpacking what it actually says. And Paul adds we are to use wisdom from God as we do this, dividing it up in portions so the people can understand it.
5) We labor to help every believer grow and mature in Christ. We aren’t here to fill time slots and make people feel religious. The church exists to glorify God and to help God’s people become more and more like Christ. That’s the goal. This is the joy and privilege of the ministry.
Now, how does this happen? It starts in the public ministry of the Word right here on Sundays. We are here because this is God’s plan and will for His people. We are to gather together for instruction and to admonish and encourage one another to love and good works. It happens in Sunday School classes. It’s what small groups are all about. It happens when you give biblical counsel to a struggling friend, when you exhort others to be faithful to read the Word, to spend time praying, to hear the Word. You may choose a book of the Bible and arrange to sit down and study it with one or two others. You can disciple by giving biblically sound books by solid Bible teachers.
LABORING IN GOD’S STRENGTH
Col 1:29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Paul wasn’t lazy. He was a worker. Christ-honoring ministry is work. Sunday School teachers can’t just wing it with ten minutes on the way to church. Preparation takes time. We have so many willing laborers in this body, it’s amazing. The ministry, in whatever area you are involved in, is work. But praise God we’re not alone. Paul says “I labor and agonize” but then he adds “according to God’s power energizing within him.” Peter put it perfectly in 1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies, so that God might be glorified through Christ.” Any good done in your ministry or mine, God gets all the credit!
This is the gold standard of ministry. Paul loved Christ and he loved the church. He found great joy in serving that body with God’s Word and seeing God’s people grow and change. Do you love Christ? Do you love Christ’s body? Do you delight to see people growing and changing in Christ? Is there some way that you could be discipling others right now? Will you ask God about this? Are you excited about a ministry that especially emphasizes the admonishing and teaching ministry of God’s Word in Colossians 1:28?
But perhaps you aren’t really a believer. You have just heard God assuring sinners just like us that Christ will come to dwell in any sinner who turns to Christ. Is Christ in you? Do you have that hope of glory because you know Christ is living in you? Can you affirm that Christ is your Lord and Savior? If not, tell Christ right now you need Him to forgive your sins and you want Him to live in you.