Paul trusted Tychicus. That's what a faithful brother
means, a faithful minister. He trusted him. That word means
trustee, faithful, trustee. And he loved him, a beloved brother. And I thought about this. How many people in this world
Do you love and trust? I know the word love gets thrown
around a lot. I'm not talking about that. I'm
talking about somebody that is dear. That word means dear. Trusty and dear. It's probably not hard
to count them if you're honest with yourself Paul mentions a handful in this
chapter and Says in verse 11 these only He doesn't say these
are my fellow workers unto the kingdom of God. He said these
only are my fellow workers Unto the kingdom of God Which have been a comfort me
They've been a comfort to me Now here's why we mentioned this
one reason is be thankful to God For those ones that you love
and can trust There are some that I love very
much and And you know what I'm gonna say
next, don't you? I can't trust them. Just can't, can't trust
them. There are sons and daughters
who can't trust their own parents. There are husbands and wives
who can't trust each other. How does that even go on? How
does that continue? I honestly don't know. But I
know personally of cases of that. Be thankful for those few in
your life, in your heart that are like this. That's a
beautiful gift from the Lord. Don't think we think about it
much Elijah didn't have anybody like that and he asked the Lord
to kill him not a coincidence Think about the things in your
life that make it Bearable if not enjoyable Life
is enjoyable, but not always Sometimes it may just be bearable
and maybe not even that all the time. But think about the things
that make it bearable even when other things seem unbearable
for you. Think about things that mean
something in this life to you, deeply. And I'm talking about things,
of course, our hope in God, our faith, Ability to trust him our
and I say ability that's the gift from the Lord to be able
to trust him that he gives that ability His promises his love for us
those are the things that make life Beautiful he makes everything
beautiful, doesn't he? This world is not beautiful,
but he makes it beautiful to us doesn't he? He makes everything beautiful
in his time. But I am talking about things
that you can see, things that matter to you. This word faithful or trustee,
it means what we think. It means someone that can be
relied upon. But also in the definition of
the word, you know how words can mean different things, a
single word has different meanings. This means someone that can be
relied upon, but also it can mean someone who trusts the promises
of God. And that definition is just like
that in this Greek word, someone who trusts the promises of God.
Now, the word doesn't necessarily mean both at the same time, but
this brings to mind the fact that these two do go together
in believers, in spiritual things. In other words, how could you
truly trust someone who doesn't trust the Lord? That's a pretty
good question, isn't it? Ultimately, there is a great
sense in which we can only trust the Lord. You know that's true. I wouldn't want you to trust
me with things that can only be trusted to the Lord. Trust no man with your soul.
Trust men only as they are consistent with God and his word. If I preach the truth, you can
trust me. You can trust my preaching. But
ultimately, you're trusting the Lord who said it to begin with. If any man or woman says anything
that's contrary to the scriptures, don't trust them. Do not trust
them. That doesn't mean don't love
them. It might mean that, but not necessarily. And we need to understand that. I'll just throw in a personal
testimony because it's just the way I am and I can't help it.
I feel like the Lord teaches us that way. I know Paul did
that. And, It may mean that this message
doesn't get on the internet or whatever, but it wasn't always
that way with me. If somebody was on my bad list,
you just were, and that was it. If you did one thing that made
me angry or if you lied to me and I couldn't trust you, that
was it. You're written off. I don't want anything to do with
you. The Lord, I believe, has taught me better than that. He's taught me that you can love
people that you don't like. Have you learned that? You don't have to like somebody
to love them. And I mean really, not hypocritically, really love
them. and holding grudges about things
and saying, that's it, that's that. The Lord has turned that
on its head for me too. He just turned it on its head.
I've made up my mind, I'm not ever gonna have anything to do
with somebody again. And I'm hardheaded enough to
follow through on that. But the Lord is powerful enough
to eliminate that. And he has. in many, many cases
over the years. Can I still put it on the internet?
Or does that make me sound weird? It's a rare and precious thing to love and be able to trust
somebody now. It's a gift from the Lord. Faithfulness
in the things of God is a rare, Precious thing and with believers
With believers the things of God Are kind of everything You know what I mean by that What in your life has nothing
to do with God You see what I mean We tend to separate the things
of God and then just earthly matters with a believer You might be able to distinguish
between the two, but I don't think you can separate them.
What in your life has nothing to do with God? I need someone
I can trust. In pretty much every way, we
need that. We need that. And thank God I
have some. I have a few that I can trust. Demas is mentioned in verse 14
of the context here as being somebody that's with Paul, but
we also have 2 Timothy 4.10 where he said, Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world. Judas was trusted for a long
time. Think about this. In thinking about that, how Judas
was trusted. Demas was part of the group.
He was a fellow laborer at one time. Think about this, and it won't
be immediately clear how this has anything to do with that,
but it will when I'm done. Selfish, proud people, like us, they want titles. Whether official titles, if they
can get them, they want that. But even if they can't get that,
they want prestige. They want that in the world,
and they want that in the church. Got a few years of experience
now, And you know why fake churches
have all kinds of, they have all kinds of titles in their
church. You know why there's such a hierarchy? Because nobody can be left out.
No, you can't leave anybody out. It'll offend them or their wife.
You can't leave anybody out. So you got the pastor, you got
the assistant pastor, you got the satellite pastor, you got
the youth minister, you got the assistant youth minister, You
got the teacher of the young, single, remarried, divorced widow's
class. You get the point. I mean, literally.
It's that way. You know why that is? People
love titles. They like to get involved. I'm
involved in my church. Have you ever heard anybody say
that? I'm really involved in my church. I wonder sometimes, is God involved
in your church? Does he have anything to do with
your church? Here's what this has to do with
what we're talking about. You know what you can be if you
want to be something? You can be something that's greater
than all of the titles that religion has ever bestowed. You know what
it is? Trustee. You want to be something that's
worth being? Be trusty. Boy, that's a big thing. That's
a wonderful thing. Able to be relied upon. Boy, that's grace, isn't it?
That's grace. Why did Paul send Tychicus and
Onesimus to the Colossian church? Look how Onesimus, by the way,
also is described in verse nine, described the same way, those
same two attributes, and we'll talk about that in a minute,
Lord willing. I'm sure there are a lot Let's
just talk about it now. There are a lot of ways that
Paul could have described these men. Personality traits, attributes
of theirs that could define these men. But Paul says here, here's
what I want you to know about them. Here's what I want you
to know about these men. You can trust them, and I love
them. I'm sending them to you, and
here's what you need to know. You can trust them, and I love
them. Those two things should inform
all of your dealings with them, that they are precious to me,
and they're trustworthy. Why were they sent? It says to know. To know. They're coming so that
they might know your stay. And that they might know Paul's
stay. Why would it mean anything to
them to know what's going on with Paul? Or for him to know
what's going on with him? Same reason it means something
to you. You want to know because you care. This was the only way they could
they could know about one another. Isn't it nice to be able to know
about one another if you want to know how somebody is doing
that you care about? Just pick up the phone, talk to them, ask
them. That's a blessing, isn't it? You can call or you can send
them a text, you know, which I think has its advantages sometimes. Sometimes written messages are
good. Or you can look at pictures on
social media. What a convenience. I like that. Some people hate social media.
Social media is not the problem. People are the problem. That
just brings it out in them. Don't hate the technology. That's
a blessing. That's a blessing. Just use it in such a way that
it doesn't raise your blood pressure. If you can. But the point is
to know about one another. To know about. I just want to
know. I bet you everybody in here has
thought about D this morning. I wonder how he's doing. I wonder
how he's doing, if he's having a good day or a bad day. I think
they're all bad now, but maybe the Lord's comforting him, and
the Lord seems to have given him such beautiful peace right
now, and I'm thankful for that. I'd like to, you just want to
know things, don't you? Did he eat any, was he able to
maybe take a drink this morning or
eat something? How did he sleep last night? I wonder if he got
any rest. That's just one example to know, that you might know. Do you care? Do you want to know? That's why he sent them. that
which concerns them, the state and the state, these words. And
the church is the family of God. Some people think that church
is nothing but a social club where they can mingle and rub
shoulders. Some don't have any relationship
at all with the people of the church for whatever reason. The church is the family of God. And state in a state means your
state of affairs, that which concerns you. You remember what
Paul said in Philippians 2.4, look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Why else were they sent? See
the words in verse eight? Comfort your hearts. It kind of goes along with it,
doesn't it? It kind of goes along with it. Why do you wonder how
Dee's doing this morning? Well, you hope he's comfortable.
You hope that his heart, not just that he's, you know, got
a good place to sit and soft pillows, but that his heart is
at peace. Believer still receives things
from God that pertain to this world We receive blessings from God
that are embedded in this world Comfort is not one of them This world has no comfort for
a sheep Only in the gospel, only in Christ
himself do we find comfort, only in the sovereign Christ. A savior who leaves everything
up to me, I can't get comfortable in that one. I need somebody
I can trust, not that's looking to me for anything. I need to
be able to look to him for everything. only in the sovereign Christ
in whose hand is life to give to whomsoever he will. That's
how I preach. I preach knowing that if God
wants you to hear and live, you'll hear and you'll live. Think often about what the leper
said in Matthew 8 verse 2 listen to this now Behold there came a leper and
Worshipped him Saying Lord if you will You can make me clean According to religion, what the
leper should have said was, Lord, if I will, you can make me clean. Is that not right? I was in it
for decades, so don't tell me I'm wrong about that. That's
exactly what they would say. If I will, you can make me clean. It's up to me. I'll decide if
you can save me or not. But this leper knew that the
only issue was the Lord's will. If the Lord wants me to be saved,
nothing and nobody can stop him. His hand is not shortened that
it cannot save. That's the believer's comfort.
That's our comfort right there. Somebody that can be trusted
to comfort the brethren. Some seem to think that it's
our business as believers to make sure that unbelievers are
uncomfortable. And even believers, really, for
that matter, you're uncomfortable. You're never comfortable. You
can never rest. Whatever you do, don't rest. God says, comfort ye, comfort
me, ye my people, saith your God. What in the world is gonna
comfort the people of God? Speak ye comfortably. Do it by saying something. What are we gonna say? Cry unto
her. Don't just present facts. You can tell the difference,
can't you? When somebody's just up here, here's the truth, take
it or leave it. People that are trusting doctrine instead of
Christ will do that to you. Cry unto her. It's gotta mean
something to you, doesn't it? The Lord will give you pastors,
what? After my heart. What's the one thing we know
about the heart of God? He loves his sheep. He loves
his sheep. Cry unto her. What are you gonna
tell her that's gonna comfort her heart? Her warfare is accomplished. Remember our message, our lesson
in the Bible class? Who are we at war with? We're
at war with God. And the only way there can be
reconciliation and peace is by the blood of his cross. Tell
her it's finished. Well, how do you know that's
what it's talking about right there, Chris? Because the next phrase is this.
Here's what we're saying, that her warfare is accomplished.
What do you mean by that? That her iniquity is pardoned. Her sins are gone. It's finished. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all of her sins. Precious blood of Christ Is all
sufficient to cleanse us from all sin before God Notice the
word fellow servant in verse 7 will try not to be long Fellow servant Once again, let's examine ourselves.
And let me ask you this question again. I've asked you several
times. This man was a fellow servant of Paul in the Lord. So here's the question. Are you
in on it? You know exactly what I mean
by that. And the question is yours to answer in your heart.
Are you in on it? If you happen to want to be a
fellow servant in God's church, it's very simple.
It's very simple. It doesn't mean necessarily do
more. Well, if everybody would just
do more, you know. It doesn't mean that. I've said
this to you before, and I say this largely this morning because of others that I'm burdened for
in the ministry. I've said this to you before,
and for all the true pastors of the Lord out there who can't
say it or won't say it, I feel like I have enough gray hairs
now to say this. One of the pastors, one of the
Lord's true pastors' biggest griefs is people doing things. You can mark it down. I talk
to them. I know them. Don't take it upon yourself to
do something in the church unless it's pretty obvious. We've talked
about this too. We don't need to have a church
meeting and a show of hands for you to pick up a gum wrapper
out of the pew and throw it in the trash can. Do I need to make
a list of things that it's okay for you to do without being a
nuisance or a burden or insulting somebody or offending somebody? I don't think we need a list.
Think we need some common sense from the Lord. It's what we need
and I'm again. I'm saying this largely because
of Of others, but but does anybody
want to be a fellow servant in the Lord And do you want to be a help
to your pastor again, I'm saying this If the Lord's given you a true
pastor Whoever you are you're hearing this and And God's given you a true pastor. You want to be a help to him?
Do what he tells you to do. That's not complicated, is it? That's not complicated at all.
And I thank God for that. Whenever there's a need, for
20 years, whenever there's been a need in this church, and I've
presented it to the church, here's what we need to do. It's like magic. And that's the grace of God.
Do you understand that? That's the grace of God. I have
to be careful about it. I don't want to say anything
too big, you know. Because the Lord, the Lord's
people. You don't have to. Be a dictator,
you don't have to be an idiot. We're gonna be, but we don't
have to be. You don't have to beg. You don't
have to do any of the stuff that religion loves to do. You really
don't. But I say this, again, mostly
with others in mind and the burden on my heart for them. If the
Lord's given you a true pastor, do whatever he asks you to do.
And you know, if he hadn't asked you to do anything in a while
and you want to do something, ask him, is there anything I
can do? I bet there is. I bet there is. Do you know how many times most
pastors have been asked that question? Is there anything I
can do? I thank God for that. I have been. But it's not a common question. In 20 years, it's not been a
common question, and I'm not mad at you. God gave me 20 years
to be a help to my pastor, too, and I'm ashamed of my pathetic record as a fellow
servant in the Lord with my pastor. Very ashamed of it. But I thank
God for those that can be trusted. And by God's grace, our hearts
are knit together in love. And I want to know. I want to know. I want to know
your estate. I want to care. I do care. And
so I want to know. I want to be a pastor and a friend. There's not clergy and laity. What does that even mean? I want
you to be comforted in Christ. I hope that that's evident. And
this is not bragging on me. I hope that in 20 years, the
Lord has shown us that the purpose of this is for us to be comforted
together in Christ, to trust only Him, but to trust Him. Trust
no other, but trust Him. Trust Him, look to Him. I thank God that I do have those
I can trust with just about anything. And I do love you. And I do want
to know, I want to be a pastor and a friend. I want to be comforted
together with you You know, there was a whole lot wrong. I always
think about this when I think of the Lord comforting his people.
Among other things, I think about them falling asleep in the Garden
of Gethsemane. There was a whole lot wrong with
that, and our Lord teaches us that. He exposes the fact when
he said, could you not watch with me for one hour? What pathetic
weaklings we are. What shameful traitors we are. But you know, no, there was a
whole lot wrong with him falling asleep in the
garden of Gethsemane. And we're told that, but also
our Lord, when he found them unable to watch with him for
even one hour, he said to them, sleep on now. It's enough. It's enough. What Christ has done, and is
doing, and shall do, is enough. It's enough. Rest. Rest. Rest in Him. Now knowing that, may He give
us grace to do all that we do for his glory, knowing that what
he did is enough. That's comfort, that's rest.
It's enough. Can you see him telling them
that in the garden? It's enough. What's enough, Lord? Nothing
from you. They didn't do anything. They
couldn't even watch him do it, much less do anything. Enough Can you rest that fully
yeah in him you can Can you really fall that completely And rest all of your weight upon
him the weight of your soul Yeah, yeah you must and So may he give
us grace to do all that we do for his glory and out of love
for him who first loved us. Let's pray.