Well this evening as we conclude
our meditation in the epistle of Paul to the Colossians we'll
read the last four verses from verse 15 and I just read them
again. Salute the brethren which are
in Laodicea and Nymphos and the church which is in his house
and when this epistle is is read among you, cause that it be read
also in the church to the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the
epistle from Laodicea, and say to Archippus, take heed to the
ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil
it. The salutation, by the hand of
me Paul, remember my bonds, Grace be with you. Amen. So as we come down to the end
of this epistle, we see how the apostle links together a number
of churches, a number of places, desiring that they may receive
the word of God and be blessed by it. And he comes and says
in verse 15, salute the brethren which are in Laodicea. Well, we don't know very much
about Laodicea apart from the fact that, of course, the Apostle
John, when he was on the Isle of Patmos, Laodicea was one of
the churches which he addressed, the seven churches, the last
one. And this epistle would, of course,
have been written before that. We don't know precisely when,
but no doubt 20 or 30 years before that which occurred when John
was commanded to address them. So it would seem that the Laodicean
church had not really taken to heart the great truths, the wonderful
truths that this letter to the church at Colossae contain, because
as we go to the revelation in the third chapter we can read
there the condition of the loudest sins and it was described as
being lukewarm lukewarm in the things of god and surely you
know how typical that is today of many in the church of god
they are lukewarm and it says they're neither hot nor cold
just lukewarm, almost describing it as a don't care attitude. Couldn't be bothered. Yes, neither
hot nor cold. And that's really a very sad
scene and a very sad situation. And we today need to be very
aware of that. As it was written to the Laodiceans
at that time, it was also to be read to the other churches,
the other six churches. It wasn't just to be kept to
that single church at Laodicea. And so because of that, we can
consider those letters have an application to us today and how
we need to be concerned that we don't fall into that position
of being lukewarm. And that really means that we
allow other things to dominate our mind, dominate our thoughts
and our actions and our words. but that we may indeed really
be concerned to walk in accordance with the many gracious and wonderful
exhortations that the Apostle has been able to set before the
Church at Colossae. And so having spoken about Laodicea,
he also goes on to say, and Nymphos and the Church which is in his
house. course in New Testament times
there weren't really places as such to worship him although
they were building synagogues but the situation was that many
churches were meeting in homes and houses and clearly there
was this situation here this person Nymphos we don't know
really anything about him but he was obviously the leader in
this particular church and Nymphos and the church which is in his
house And therefore the apostle was bringing greetings to him. Then he comes on and he says,
and when this epistle is read among you, cause it to be read
also in the church of the Laodiceans. that you likewise read the epistle
from Laodicea. Now there is no epistle to Laodicea
that we know of today. So clearly it was written at
that time and we're not absolutely sure that it was in fact written
to Laodicea but nonetheless there is not a epistle of Paul to the
Laodiceans. But we recognize here that the
apostle wrote to the church at Laodicea and he wanted that church
to have this epistle read to them and that the Colossians
also had the Laodicean epistle read to them. So you see the
apostle was concerned that the things that he'd written under
the blessed influence of the Holy Spirit would not lie dormant
But it was to be read, and it was to be understood, and to
be appreciated, and proved to be a blessing. And then he says,
and say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou hast
received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it. And that's a very
direct word to the Church of God down through the ages. Because
we have today, by the mercy of God, the ministry. And what does
the word say to here? Take heed to the ministry which
thou hast received. And as we are blessed with hearing
the ministry, and we are to take heed to it. We're not to ignore
it. We're not to think it doesn't
have any relevance to us. We should not be picky and choosy.
We should recognise it emanates from Almighty God, and therefore
we should take it to our hearts, believing it is the word of the
Lord, the ministry which thou hast received. What a blessing,
therefore, we have received the ministry that God has sent, and
therefore not only do we receive it, again, in the Lord, not as
from man but from the Lord and that clearly has a very important
reference and indication that we should not therefore consider
these things as irrelevant but recognizing that such ministry
emanates from the Almighty God and that thou fulfill it. We're not to pass it over. We're
not to think it is not relevant to us. Here was the apostle writing
and mentioning specifically Archippus and speaking that he should take
heed to the ministry, excuse me, which had been received from
the Lord that thou fulfill it. And then he says, the salutation
by my hand Now, of course, in those days, the apostles didn't
generally write. They had secretaries to actually
write what they dictated. But when it came to the very
end, it would seem the apostle took it in hand to write this,
the salutation by the hand of me, Paul. Remember my bonds. He was in prison, in prison in
Rome. He didn't want the people to
forget that he was a prisoner. He wanted them to remember, excuse
me, and to pray for him, remember my bonds. And of course, we don't
know today the position that God's servants
are in, perhaps not in physical bonds, but they may be in bonds
and they do need the Lord to come and to free them and bring
them into liberty and therefore to pray that his servants may
indeed be wonderfully upheld and blessed. And then finally
he says, grace be with you. The free unmerited favour to
the Church of Colossae And also clearly to the later scenes,
it was to be read to. Remember my bonds. Grace be with
you. The apostle was always concerned.
about the health of the Church of God. Grace be with you. Amen. So, let it be. Well, there we are. We come then
to the end of this epistle that the Apostle, under the blessed
influence of the Spirit, was able to write so many years ago.
And through the great providence of God, this, and of course all
the Word of God, has been preserved down through the ages, so that
now today it's our wonderful privilege to have the Word of
God to be able to read. My friends, may we read it carefully
and avidly and love to read it. May it never be a burden, the
Word of God. May we never turn away from it.
May we never think it's a hardship, but may we love to read the Word
of God. And may we find, as we read it,
we can trace out our spiritual life and be strengthened in our
faith to believe that that's what the Word of God says and
by his grace I can follow in my own soul and be able to say,
blessed be God.