Well, let us turn to this portion
that we've just read, Colossians chapter 4. We come tonight to
the final verse, verse 18. I'll read it here in Colossians
4.18. The salutation by the hand of
me, Paul, remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. Then we have the final greetings
as the Apostle sends his salutations to this church that he had been
so instrumental in establishing in the truth of Christ and he
has of course in the course of the sermon declared many wondrous
truths in the earlier parts of the epistle we have some great
doctrine concerning the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but we've been looking over recent weeks more especially at this
latter part, this final chapter, I suppose a rather neglected
part of the epistle. We've considered the list of
names that we have from verse 7 right the way through to the
end, and all of these of course are those who are sending their
individual greetings to the church they were obviously known to
them as was Paul and as he comes to the conclusion then he makes
mention of these various people it's not uncommon for Paul to
do this he does something very similar there at the end of the
epistle to the Romans in chapter 16 lesser known individuals but
They're all names written in the book of Life of the Lamb
from the foundation of the world. And last week we considered something
of what's said here concerning Archippus in verse 17, his ministry
amongst them. And how faithful he was in seeking
to exercise that ministry we read there at verse 17 say
to Archippus he was their minister take heed to the ministry which
thou hast received in the Lord that thou fulfill it he was to
fulfill it and he was to do so in accordance with the sort of
charge that we find the Apostle giving to Timothy Remember what
Paul declares there in the second letter to Timothy 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 5
Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, make full proof
of thy ministry and here at the end of verse 17 to Archippus
that thou fulfill it he was to make full proof of his own ministry
he was to give himself to it wholeheartedly he was to have
a zeal for the service of God amongst the Colossians and again
when Paul is writing in those pastoral epistles to Timothy
and also to Titus does he not speak of the minister as one
who is to labour They who labour, he says, in words and in doctrine. And the word that he uses is
that that's associated with the man who is labouring in the fields. He says again to Timothy, the
husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
The husbandman, the labourer, the farmer or the farmhand. giving
himself to that industrious work, well that's the way in which
Archippus was to engage in the work there amongst the Colossians. And now we come to Paul himself
and what he has to say here in the final verse. Now Paul of
course wasn't just concerned for the Colossians, exercise the office of an apostle
and remember when he writes to the Corinthians he reminds him
of all that that entailed he says that which cometh upon me
daily the care of all the churches he had a care for not only the
Colossians but as we see in the following pages here he writes
two letters to the Church of the Thessalonians and he's previously
written to other churches that at Rome and the Corinthians,
churches of Galatia, the church at Ephesus and we see his great
love and concern for the well-being of these gospel churches and
so tonight to say something with regards to the manner in which
the apostle concludes the epistle then here in verse 18 the salutation
by the hand of me Paul remember my bonds grace be with you amen
and I want to deal with some three points really first of
all to say something with regards to his writing. It's the salutation,
he says, by the hand of me, by the hand of me, Paul. It's just a salutation that he
has written with his own hand. That's what he is saying here
at the beginning of the verse. The body of the epistle was doubtless
written by an amanuensis. Paul's normal practice was that
he would he would dictate to another and the other would write
the epistle for him and we see with regards to the epistle to
the church at Rome as I said we have a similar portion at
the end of that epistle chapter 16 as we find here in Colossians
4 and there in Romans 16 22 we read of a certain man called
Tertius I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the
Lord." So, Tertius was his amanuensis, he was the one, his secretary
as it were, who was writing that particular epistle. We're not
told who wrote this one to the Colossians, but we know that
Paul only wrote the salutation. There are other epistles that
it seems that Paul did write personally, for example to the
Galatians Galatians 6.11 he says you see a longer letter I have
written unto you with mine own hand it appears indeed he had
written the whole of that particular epistle and it's interesting
that when he writes in that short very personal epistle to Philemon
What do we read there? At the end in verse 19, I, Paul,
have written it with mine own hands. He's been exhorting this
man to receive his runaway slave Onesimus and Paul will stand
surety for Onesimus if anything is owed to his master Philemon.
And so he writes his very personal letter and says, I, Paul, have
written it with mine own hand. I will repay it. anything that's
owed you see I will repay it albeit I do not say to thee how
thou owest unto me even thine own self besides so he would
on occasions write the whole of the epistle but his usual
practice was that someone would do the writing and he would simply write the closing parts of the
epistle, the end of 1 Corinthians, the salutation of me Paul with
mine own hands. And interestingly we see that
it was his common practice because when we come to the end of 2
Thessalonians He says there at verse 17 in chapter 3, the salutation
of Paul with mine own hand which is the token in every epistle. So I write. That was his normal
practice. There were occasions when he
felt it necessary or was able to write the whole epistle but
usually he would simply write the closing word of salutes. the final word of greeting and
that was necessary that was necessary because that authenticated the
letter they would see when they received the epistle that the
close of the epistle was actually in Paul's own hand it was an
authentication and it was necessary because there were many false
teachers and doubtless there were spurious letters that might
be circulating. Again, we see something of that
in what we have in 2 Thessalonians 2. There in the opening words
of that chapter, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto
him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as at the
day of Christ is at hand." There were some who might be saying
that that day was close at hand, the day of His return, but the
Lord is here saying that there were certain events that must
come to pass before that day comes, and of course He goes
on to speak of the manifestation of the man of sin and the son
of perdition. It's a remarkable chapter, 2
Thessalonians 2. I think it was only last week
I think I was talking with Cliff about Bishop Wordsworth. Bishop
Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln back in the 19th century wrote
a remarkable commentary on that second chapter. Is the papacy
predicted by St. Paul was the title and he shows
that it was only after Popery had been revealed after the fall
of the Roman Empire was only after those tremendous events
that the Lord would come but the point we're making here is
that Paul clearly indicates that it was necessary that he should
sign off the letters because they were false teachers many false teachers John of course
the last of the apostles writes beloved believe not every spirit
but try the spirits whether they be sent of God because many false
teachers are gone out into the world and so as Paul writes he's
writing in defense of the truth of the gospel and so he signs
off his letters and authenticates them Now, coming back to something we've
said previously, remember when we looked at verse 16, he says
there, when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read
also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the
epistle from Laodicea. Now, we don't know whether or
not Paul was the author of that epistle to the Laodiceans, We
know this, that it's not to be found of course in the New Testament
Scriptures, it's not part of what we call the Canon of Scripture. There are Roman Catholic writers
who do say it was written by Paul, to the Laodiceans, but
it has not been admitted into the canon of Scripture by the
church. The canon simply means the rule
or the standard. We talk about the canon of Scripture,
the books that make up the Bible, the Old Testament books, the
New Testament books, those that are recognized as being authentic.
and God-inspired. Well, the Roman Catholic Church
of course says that it's the Church that decides what is to
form the canon of Scripture. But we don't put the Church in
that position. They will speak of course of
Mother Church. No, we say that the Bible really is self-authenticating. The cry of the prophet in the
Old Testament is to the Lord and to the testimony if they
speak not according to this word it is because there is no light
in them. And as we read through the scriptures
we have intimations that God's word is self-authenticating. For example when Paul writes
in 1 Corinthians 14.37 he says if any man think himself to be
a prophet or spiritual let him acknowledge that the things that
I write unto you are the commandments of God. So Paul is saying there
that the spiritual man will acknowledge that what he is writing is not
his own words but they are the commandments of God and again
in 1st Thessalonians and there in chapter 2 and verse 13 he
says to the Thessalonians for this cause also thank we God
without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which
you heard of us you received it not as the word of men but
as it is in truth the word of God which effectually worketh
also in you that believe." I like the comment, the remark
that's made by Thomas Boston, a great Scots minister and divine
from the 18th century. This is what Boston says, there
is objective evidence enough in the scriptures though indeed
the subjective evidence cannot be had but by the Spirit of God. It's God's Spirit bearing witness
with our spirit that this is the Word of God. It's not the
church, the Romish church, that authenticates what is the Bible.
It is the Holy Spirit who authenticates it. It's the breathings of the
Spirit of God. We know those holy men, those
prophets of old, they spake as they were moved by the Spirit
of God. They were born along, carried
along by the Spirit. And here in the New Testament
we're told, aren't we, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
Here in 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture is the breathings of God. And so here we have Paul writing
under the gracious ministry of the Spirit, he's inspired in
what he's writing to the Colossians and he authenticates it to them
by his own hand, the salutation by the hand of me, Paul. It's
his own writings really, although he's not written all of the epistle,
he will authenticate the work that was done by whoever it was,
this particular Manuensis who writes at his dictation. But
they are the words of God. But interestingly, in the second
place, I want to say something with regards to the way in which
he is reminding them, isn't he, in a certain sense. He says, remember my bonds. Remember my bonds. He is now
at Rome under some form of restriction, under house arrest or something,
it appealed to Caesar and it's all in the good providence of
God because several of the epistles that we have in our New Testament
are those that were written from Rome when he was in prison and
that's what he's saying here, remember my bonds and of course
he's mentioned it previously in the chapter we read through
the chapter again and there at the beginning in the second and
third verses continue in prayer watching the same with thanksgiving
with all praying also for us that God would open unto us a
door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I
am also in bonds he has all the authority of an apostle but he
is in prison and he feels his dependence on the prayers of
the saints he acknowledges how he needs the prayers of the saints
there as he is so restricted in Rome so he writes to them
in a sense for that very purpose that they won't forget it but
they'll be praying for him. But other things that we can
see here which he would have them to remember in a sense. They should remember the worth
and the great value of the gospel. He's wanting really to communicate
the great truths of the gospel in his bonds. Isn't that what
he says back in that third verse? Their prayer is to be very specific
that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery
of Christ. The mystery of Christ for which
I am also in bonds. He speaks of the mystery of Christ. And it's interesting because
we have a similar expression when he writes to the church
at Ephesus, and again speaks of his need of their prayers. He's spoken in Ephesians 6 of
the various parts of the believer's armour for the good fight of
faith, and then at the end he mentions the importance of prayer,
And he goes on, doesn't he? Verse 19 there in that 6th chapter,
and familiar says, that utterance may be given unto me that I may
open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. There it's the mystery of the
gospel. Here at the beginning of this 4th chapter, it's the
mystery of Christ. It's one and the same. It's one
and the same thing. It's the great mystery, isn't
it? without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. That's the gospel, it centers
in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and it's worth
it. It's worthy of all acceptation
in that sense. It's a very valuable Gospel. And the Apostle is ready to be
imprisoned for it, to suffer for that Gospel because it's
a precious thing. Now he's being tried in all the
circumstances of his life. he had to appeal to the Caesar
because there at the end of Acts when he was at Jerusalem there
were those Jews who were determined to see him killed and they are
forever laying false charges against him and as a Roman citizen
he makes use of that citizenship by appealing to the Caesar so
he's gone to Rome but it's all his sufferings for the gospel,
it's the trial of his faith or the trial of your faith being
much more precious than of gold that perishes. The gospel is a precious thing
then. This is what Paul would have them to remember now, to
remember his bonds and the reason why he is in that situation.
But also, as he speaks of these things, he wants to encourage
them. Isn't Paul an example to them?
Here, both at the beginning of the chapter and at the end, he
makes mention of his bonds. And isn't he a patent to them
which should hereafter believe, as he says in 1 Timothy chapter
1? He's the patent believer. We've
said that many, many times. He's a type of what it is to
be a Christian believer, not that we're going to have the
same depth of experiences none of us are called to be apostles
this man had a remarkable ministry to fulfill and to accomplish
but there are principles and interestingly when he writes
to the Philippians there at the end of the opening chapter he
says unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only
to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake and it's given unto every believer
not only to believe but also to suffer for the sake of the
Lord Jesus and he goes on having the same conflict which he saw
in me and now here to be in me oh they'd seen when he was at
Philippi how he suffered why he and Silas were cast into the
inner prison and miraculously delivered. They'd seen his sufferings,
and now they're hearing more. Again, Philippians, you see,
it's one of the prison epistles. But he writes these things surely
as one who is a true pastor, he wants to encourage these people.
He knows that this is the lot of the people of God in the world. You shall have tribulation. Those
are the words of the Lord Jesus himself. In the world you shall
have tribulation. Be of good cheer, says the Savior.
I have overcome the world and we can only overcome this world
by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so he wants them to remember
him but in a sense his desire is not so much that it centers
in their remembrance of him he is mindful of them and he wants
to encourage them and then finally We come to what we might call
His closing prayer, the wonderful request that He makes. Grace
be with you. Amen. Grace be with you. That's unmerited favour, isn't
it? The grace of God. That grace in which we see the
sovereignty of God, setting his love upon his people. Of course
the epistle begins in a sense with the same theme. Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timotheus, our
brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are
at Colossae, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's grace that he desires for
them and prays for them. And remember what we have back
in Zechariah chapter 4, when Zerubbabel sees the temple rebuilt
after the restoration from the captivity, and they bring the
top stone to it with shoutings, cryings of grace, grace onto
it. And of course, that temple is
a type it's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ yes but it's the
Lord Jesus Christ and his body the church all salvation is all
together of grace and it's interesting here because in fact in the original
we have the definite article before the noun grace literally
says the grace, the grace be unto you all the grace of God
which we witness in the Lord Jesus Christ that unspeakable
gift I've spoken previously of John Davenant's commentary on
this particular epistle Davenant was the Bishop of Salisbury back
in the early 17th century, and it's a remarkable book, his commentary
on the Colossians. And here, Davenant makes the
observation concerning grace. He says, in this single word
is contained a great fund of blessings promised and exhibited
in the gospel. in the word grace, a great fund
of blessings promised and exhibited in the gospel. And then of course
it all concludes with the Amen. With the Amen. Now the word Amen
is originally a Hebrew word, Amen, but it's there also in
the Greek, it's the same it's the same words what we have here
in the English is simply the transliteration of the word so
it's Hebrew word originally but we have it in the Greek we also
have it in our English but if we go back if we go back to the
Hebrew and how we are to understand and interpret the word In the Hiphal it means to believe. Amen means to believe. But it's
also in the Nifal as the idea of something firm and stable. It's what's believed, you see.
It's the strength of the statement that is being made that we're
to believe. And of course, we see it in the New Testament,
certainly in John's Gospel where the word is repeatedly rendered
Verily, and many a time the Lord prefixes his teachings with a
double verily. So be it. So be it. Amen. Amen. And again, the Dovenant
says, by this word the Apostle shows a certain persuasion that
God would hear his prayer and bestow grace abundantly. By this
word the good bishop says it shows a certain persuasion that
God would hear his prayer we have to say our amens as we come
to prayer because we believe we have that certain persuasion
he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder
of all them that diligently seek him let us say our amens because
we believe that we're not praying to the air, we're praying to
God, we're the ear of God and He hears and He answers us in
all our prayers. He never says to the seed of
Jacob, seek ye my face in vain. The salutation, by the hand of
me, Paul, remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. May the Lord bless His word to
us.