Colossians chapter four, and
we are going to read from verse seven. We're going to read from
verse seven. You know, I was tempted to go
back to the beginning and read the whole book, and I thought,
this really won't take very much time, and I'll just read it,
and then we'll have the whole letter, the whole epistle, in one solid statement before
our eyes. But I've reneged to do that so
let my neglect be your prompt and if you find yourself with
a little bit of time then do go back and read the whole of
the book. It is a lovely book. I have enjoyed
these studies very much personally. And now as we come to the last
study in this little epistle of Colossians, I want to draw
your attention to some of the Apostles' closing remarks. So we'll read in Colossians chapter
4 and verse 7. All my state shall Tychicus declare
unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful minister and fellow
servant in the Lord, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose,
that he might know your estate and comfort your hearts. With
Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you, they
shall make known unto you all which are done here. Aristarchus,
my fellow prisoner, saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son
to Barnabas, touching whom ye received commandments, if he
come unto you, receive him. and Jesus, which is called Justice,
who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellow workers
unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. Epaphras, who is one of you,
a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently
for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in
all the will of God. for I bear him record that he
hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea, and
them in Herapolis. Luke the beloved physician and
Demas greet you. Salute the brethren which are
in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
and 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. 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. Just a couple of wee things by
way of point. The reference there to the salutation
by the hand of me Paul perhaps suggests that he used a scribe,
perhaps it was Luke or one of the other men, and then signed
the letter himself at the bottom. That seems to be a way that the
apostle acted sometimes, that he simply dictated the letter
and then signed it at the end. So if that's the case, then that
may be the reference there in verse 18 to the salutation by
the hand of me, Paul. And just another wee thing, because
I'm not going to touch back upon it again later this evening,
but in verse 16, you may wonder if this little reference here
to the epistle from Laodicea means that there was another
letter that the apostle Paul sent to Laodicea And so there
was one went to Colossae and one went to Laodicea, and then
they were being told to swap letters so that they both got
to read each other's letter. Well, it's a nice idea. There's
no real evidence that that's the case. And in fact, it's likely
that what the apostle is referring to here is a letter that has
been written from Laodicea. And perhaps it was written to
Laodicea, or from Laodicea to Paul, or perhaps it was written
to the Colossians and he knew about it. But for whatever reason,
it seems perhaps most likely that rather than there being
a lost epistle, which some people then might suggest contained
important information that we don't have access to, rather,
it can equally be interpreted as being a letter that came from
Laodicea and from the church and the saints there, which the
Apostle Paul desires the Colossians be aware of. So just a couple
of little points there by way of detail with respect to the
verses. Our thoughts this evening are
really surrounding a couple of words that we find towards the
middle of our verses this evening with respect to Epaphras. is mentioned a couple of times
in the letter both in the introduction and then here again at the end
for the obvious reason that Epaphras had a special relationship with
the church at Colossae and had likely been their pastor and
had certainly been involved in the preaching of the gospel amongst
them. He seems to have been the one
that provided the Apostle Paul with his information about the
church and he has a great zeal for the people there in the church
at Colossae and the Apostle Paul draws upon that zeal a couple
of times in this epistle as we have read together in the past
and then again this evening. And this verse 12 of chapter
4 again speaks of this man Epaphras. And the Apostle says, Epaphras,
who is one of you, that is, that he came from Colossae, perhaps
indeed of that town, and he is a servant of Christ, and he salutes
you. Always labouring fervently for
you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the
will of God. And that's the title of this
evening's sermon, Perfect and Complete. So as the apostle draws
his epistle to the Colossians to an end, there are several
final features that I want to draw to your attention that come
into view, which show us something of Paul's pastoral purpose in
writing this little epistle. Now remember, Paul had likely
not met any of these brethren. He may have encountered one or
two of them in his travels or that he had been in perhaps another
city where they happened to be. Certainly that does seem to be
the case with respect to Philemon. That does seem to be a personal
knowledge. Indeed, it may well be that Philemon
had been converted under Paul's ministry, and Philemon is now
back in Colossae, or it's certainly nearby, probably a member of
the church there at Colossae, and there is a letter, a separate
letter goes, it would appear by the hand of Onesimus at the
same time to Philemon. So he knew some of these people,
but perhaps not many of them at all. And yet it's very clear
that though not knowing them personally, he felt a great personal
burden for them in his own spirit and in his spiritual labours. He saw that while he perhaps
did not know some of them personally, Yet all that he did and all that
he endeavoured to minister and his service of the Lord was for
them and others like them. This was a burden that he had
with respect to the Gentiles particularly. And here we see
it coming again to the fore in this little epistle. Epaphras, as we've mentioned,
seems to have informed the Apostle of the circumstances of the church
there at Colossae. And as the Apostle opens with
Epaphras' name, so he concludes with Epaphras' name also. And Epaphras, we're told, had
great zeal for the church at Colossae and it seems as if that
zeal for them had rubbed off somewhat on the Apostle also
and he seems to be very engaged and enthusiastic with respect
to this little fellowship. I want to draw your attention
to a couple of points with respect to these closing greetings, these
final greetings that the Apostle is here making in the letter. There's lots of goodbyes and
farewells and salutes go on here. But I think we would be simplistic
to imagine that that's all that's happening in these verses. Some
people might even think, well, what is there to say? Where's
the doctrine? Where's the experiential? grace
in this, it's simply the apostle saying goodbye and bringing his
little epistle to a conclusion. But that would be wrong think,
surely, because all scripture has a purpose. All scripture
is for our instruction and for our doctrinal understanding,
for correction, for the guidance and leading of the people of
God into truth. And so he's not simply saying
farewell to the church any more indeed than his initial greeting
and his salutation at the beginning of the letter was merely him
saying hello. We saw that previously. Let me just read a few verses
from the beginning of the epistle and I'll show you what I mean.
So Paul, in the first few verses of Colossians chapter 1, he writes,
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. We give thanks to God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since
we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which ye
have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you
in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel. which is come unto you, as it
is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also
in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of
God in truth. As ye also learned of Epaphras,
our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister
of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. So you can see that in these
opening verses The Apostle Paul has very speedily, very quickly
established the environment in which he is about to convey his
doctrinal direction and his guidance, his advice and his warnings concerning
the Judaizers that it appears Epaphras had spoken to him about
who were a challenge to this Gentile church in Colossae. And
the Apostle confirms his apostolic authority. In the first few words
he is showing that he has a right to be writing to them in this
way. He rejoices with them in their
standing of the Brethren in Colossae, in Christ. He says that they
are by reputation saints and faithful and they are brought
to his attention as people for whom the Spirit of the Lord has
effectually brought them into a knowledge of the truth. This
information came from Epaphras and he recognises, and perhaps
this is one of the most important points that we noticed in our
early sermons here upon the book, he recognises the role of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as the sole praiseworthy
source of the mercy and the gracious gospel experience that these
men and women have had there in Colossae. And while Epaphras
was the medium, as he was the means, as he was the called minister
to declare the gospel to them, it's God who receives the thanks
for their standing in Christ. The triune God receives the praise
and thereby the Apostle is emphasising the sovereignty of God in salvation,
not thanking the individuals that they've consented to follow
after the same teaching as the Apostle, not saying that they
were praiseworthy because they had transferred from a pursuit
of idolatrous worship to the Christian faith, but acknowledging
that God the Holy Spirit had been at work in their lives,
that the Father's election of them was true and that the Lord
Jesus Christ was their Redeemer and the precious blood of Christ,
the ground of their acceptance with God. So in a few verses
he skillfully sets out the ground rules by which he then goes on
to build upon his epistle and the teaching of that epistle.
He's speaking with divine authority, he's speaking to believers, he's
speaking of justifying righteousness and he's speaking of sovereign
redeeming grace. And he goes on at the beginning
of chapter two to speak about the liberty and the joy that
this church possesses, the Christian liberty, against those who would
come against them with these teachings of legalism and mosaic
responsibility under the Old Testament law. And similarly,
then, as the apostle is leaving the letter, as he concludes the
epistle, he is giving to the readers, he's leaving the readers
with valuable and comforting reminders of their blessed state
in Christ. just as he opened vigorously,
getting straight into his message and speaking about all of the
glory of God. So he conveys tokens here at
the end, which will be a comfort and encouragement to these Colossian
believers. Tokens of friendship, promises
of support, lots of motivating encouragement. And the Apostle,
he says, as it were, brothers and sisters, you are not alone. We are bound together in Christian
love. We are bound together in a blessed,
holy union. We have a common purpose. and
we are familiar with that glorious cause which is the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ that must ultimately prosper and succeed. And I cannot imagine a more helpful
or suitable correspondence to have. And especially to these
Colossian and Luodicean believers and the little church at Hierapolis
as well. These were Gentile converts and
now it seems If our interpretation, especially of chapter 2, the end of chapter
1 and chapter 2 is correct, it seems that though they were far
from Jerusalem, The same Judaizers that seemed to go around and
follow Paul around wherever he took the message of the gospel
had reached Colossae and Laodicea and Herapolis and were there
sowing seeds of doubt bringing in aspects of legalism and Mosaic
obligation and duty which the Apostle Paul had dealt with in
an early part of his ministry at the Council in Jerusalem.
And while there were clear statements of apostolic authority that there
was no obligation to go back under Moses' law as far as the
Gentiles were concerned, Nevertheless, here were, once again, these
troublemakers, just as they were in Galatia, just as they were
in other parts of the Apostles' ministry, troubling the saints. And so the apostle writes to
them and he sets out in written form, in parchment paper, he
sets out on scrolls and in durable fashion, the fact that these
believers were free in Christ. And as he writes to the Colossians,
suitably, helpfully, this comforting and encouraging correspondence. Let us remind ourselves that
this is our letter too. This is your letter as well. This is my letter. The Apostle
Paul is writing to the faithful and to the sanctified. And therefore while the address
is Colossae, it certainly appears that that is to be extended beyond. It is to go to Laodicea, it is
to go to Hierapolis, and it is to come all the way to Great
Falls or Grand Rapids or South Georgia or Seattle or wherever
it might be that you're listening to this evening. This is your
letter. This is our Gospel. And I think it's lovely to just
draw upon some of these sentiments that the Apostle is leaving with
the Colossians as he takes his leave and departs. And the first
thing I want to draw your attention to that we can take from these
final greetings is this. Brothers and sisters at Colossae,
Laodicea, Hierapolis and wherever you are tonight, you're not alone. You are not alone. There is a
fellowship in the gospel and we share in that fellowship. This is a God-given privilege
that we have this evening, to sit together in each other's
company and to share fellowship in this Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it is a blessed pleasure
for Christian believers to do so. The Apostle Paul has spoken
to these individuals in the language of family. He speaks of brothers
and sisters. He speaks of congregation. He speaks of church. He speaks
of assembly. He even speaks of flock. And
he shows us that there is a bond that exists. in this family of
grace, in this great congregation, in this church of the firstborn,
in this assembly of believers, in this flock that is the flock
of God. And he reminds us that the Lord
Jesus Christ has died for a great multitude of people. that the
Holy Spirit is gathering out of the world a great multitude,
even those Gentiles. They're in Asia Minor, they're
in Turkey, they're in Asia. As the apostle is now in Rome,
so he is in Europe, and he's writing to a church in Asia Minor,
and he's speaking about the things that have happened. He is showing
that this is a worldwide gospel. and a gospel that gathers in
people from all over the world into this fellowship and to this
bond. So he's reminding the Colossians
that they're not alone, that they share in a gospel fellowship
that transcends language, transcends race, transcends the religious
divisions of Jew and Gentile. It crosses borders. And the Holy
Spirit's power reaches into the hearts of men and women who are
the elect of God and he brings them to himself. It's a lovely
little phrase that, the elect of God. And I don't know whether
I drew your attention to it when we were going through the verses,
but that's it there in chapter 3, verse 12. Put on, therefore,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bells of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. You know, that's
the only place in the whole of the Bible that that little phrase
is used, the elect of God. And here it is written to the
Colossians, just a little church up there in Turkey. And the apostle calls them the
elect of God. And that's what we are, the elect
of God. And we often feel that we are
small in number, that we are just a few, that You know, is
this all that it is? We look out in the congregation
and we see that there are far more empty seats than there are
filled seats. Or we think about the people
that we're able to meet with and we think to ourselves, maybe
once a week or twice a week we get the chance to share fellowship
with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. And so much more
of the week is taken up with things that just weary us and
weigh us down. And we sometimes feel very isolated
and very alone. I'm sure the Colossians felt
like that. And the Apostle Paul is here telling them, you're
not alone. And we think about the stars
in the sky, the elect of God. We think about the sand which
is upon the seashore, innumerable, the elect of God. and the many
parts that are bound together in one. We see that mutual support
and the cause that the Lord Jesus Christ gives us in the mutual
help that we have to give to one another. And while we may
not know so very many believers or be able to share in fellowship
with so many believers. Yet the Apostle is here showing
these Colossians that he has an interest in their spiritual
well-being and many others have a spiritual interest in their
soul's well-being also. Can you imagine what a blessing
it must have been to receive this letter from the Apostle
Paul? I mean, I don't know the circumstances
that that might be. We're told that Tychicus and
Onesimus are carrying it, so how long that distance was. But
one day, one day, these two men turn up on the doorstep of the
home where the church is gathering. and they say we've got a letter
to read you from Paul the Apostle. That must have been very exciting.
Shame on us when we don't have that excitement and that enthusiasm
when we come to the Word of God. It is a living Word and it still
speaks to us today. It reverberates to us today.
It echoes down through the years, a message of glory, an eternal
message, an everlasting message. and we ought to come prayerfully
before the word of God asking that the Lord would lay these
words upon our soul in a real lively and vital way. This message then that came from
Paul It came to the Colossians reminding them that they were
amongst a host of saints, and that there were a host of saints
thinking about them, anxious for them, praying for them, caring
for them, and working together on their behalf. The list is
as follows, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Justice, Epaphras,
Luke, Demas. All of these that say hello,
all of these who send their greetings are serving the Colossians. ministering to the Laodiceans,
sharing together with the folk from Hierapolis. They are saluting
these brethren who will receive this letter and they are about
to travel to see them. Tychicus and Onesimus were about
to travel 1,200 miles to carry this letter from Paul, from Rome
to Colossae. Now, that's a 2,500 mile round
trip. Imagine you're on your own. Imagine
that you've got no regular fellowship. Imagine that you're just a small
group. Maybe you don't have to imagine too much. And imagine
that you then got a letter, and I just selected some names here
at random, and that letter says, oh, by the way, Bruce and Todd
and Joe and Darwin and Alan and Angus and Rick and Greg, they
all say hi. I hope I don't get into trouble
for missing somebody's name out there. But these are names of
preachers that we know in our Sovereign Grace churches. And
if all of these guys got together and said, we're all saying hello
to you in your little group, in your little house, in your
little fellowship, to you as an individual, wouldn't that
be an encouragement to you? To know that these men and all
their churches are bound together with an affection, with a care,
with a service, with a ministry, To you, we have a small fellowship
and we are in isolated families and we have to meet online. And
some of you are here with us and you're just at home on your
own. And now we get a chance to share
in the fellowship of the gospel. Do you find your spiritual life
tough? Do you find that being a believer
is trying and difficult in these days? Brothers and sisters, you
are not alone. That's what Paul is saying to
the Colossians. You're not alone. And distance
can seem a problem, and circumstances can seem an issue, but God has
a people and he has preserved that people. You remember the
story of Elijah. Elijah thought, I'm the only
one left. And the Lord had to come to him
and say, Elijah, I have 7,000 faithful men and women who have
not bowed to this idolatrous generation, have not bowed to
the religious formalism of our day. Well, where are they, Lord? Where are they? Elijah, that's
not for you to know. This is God's work, and God will
not leave Himself without a witness. We are called, wherever the Lord
has placed us, to serve Him where we are, and we rejoice that the
Lord has been faithful to call us to Himself. and to give us
the opportunity to share, as perhaps these Colossians did,
in simply a letter written from afar, or a broadcast broadcast
from afar, or an occasional opportunity to meet together with the Lord's
people. But we are not alone. And here's another thing that
these final greetings tell us. Brothers and sisters, we are
bound together in Christian love. There were two opposing claims
being made upon these Colossians at this time, the Judaizers and
the gospel preachers. And these Judaizers are characterized
by Paul in this letter as beguiling with enticing words and spoiling
the Colossians through vain philosophy and deceit, or philosophy and
vain deceit. And the Apostle Paul says to
the Colossians, he says in chapter two, verse five, though I be
absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit. joying and
beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in
Christ. You know, although he was absent,
although he had it from Epaphras, second hand, that these Judaizers
were causing consternation and trouble amongst the Colossians.
He said, I'm absent in the flesh, but I'm with you in the spirit.
We are bound together in the spirit. We can share and joy
together in these gospel truths, even remotely, even from afar. And I am delighted, so delighted,
to hear of and know about your steadfastness in the faith, your
faith in Christ, bound together in brotherly love, in Christian
affection. Let me tell you what I think
that means. And if you're looking for a reason to shoot me down
in flames, then maybe I'm about to give you one. But I'll tell
you what I think that means. I think that what that means
is this, that what primarily binds the Lord's people together
in their fellowship is love, is love. Now maybe you'll say,
but what about doctrine? What about our doctrine? Is it
not our doctrine that binds us together? It's our love that
binds us together. The Lord Jesus Christ says, love
one another. Love one another. That is the
principle requirement. That is the principle demand. Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ
says, it's a commandment. Such is the weightiness of this. A new commandment I give unto
you, that ye love one another. And what have we repeatedly said
while we've been going through this book with respect to the
injunctions and the directions and the commandments of God? What God requires of his people,
God provides for his people. What God requires of us, God
provides for us. And so He has provided that love. for one another. He has imparted
that love to us. As the Lord Jesus Christ loves
us, as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit loves us, so
we are directed to love one another as I have loved you. With that
affection, with that care, with that same sacrificial love that
the Lord Jesus Christ had for us. And I think it's so interesting
to see the frequency with which this emphasis on love characterizes
the New Testament Scriptures and the Apostolic Epistles. Not only did the Lord Jesus Christ
say and repeat frequently, as in John 13, 34, a new commandment
I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another. And the
epistles echo and restate this. It is love that characterises
and undergirds a believer's relationship with the body of Christ. Indeed,
the Apostle Peter tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. And it is that love one for another
that allows us to share together, even when we might be disappointed
with one another, even when we might be grieved by one another,
even when we might struggle with what is said and what is done,
and the shortcomings and the trials that we impose upon one
another, sometimes by our short-sightedness and thoughtlessness. but it's
because we love one another in a submissive way, in a sacrificial
way, that we are able to strengthen those bonds of affection and
realise that they have an import and a usefulness in order to
help us to move forward in our care and mutual support of one
another. And so the apostle says in Romans
12 verse 10, be kindly affectioned one to another, be sensitive
one to another, be thoughtful one for another, with brotherly
love, in honor preferring one another. So when we come together,
when we share together, let our preferences be for what serves
one another, even indeed, The Apostle tells us that our Christian
liberty has to be subordinate to our brothers and sisters in
Christ. He says in Galatians 5.13, Brethren,
ye have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion
to the flesh, but by love serve one another. He says in Ephesians
4 verse 2, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love. In Hebrews 10 verse 24, we read
there, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love. You know what? That is not provoking
one another. That is provoking ourselves. Consider one another. Consider
one another. You know, I think it's an amazingly
fruitful, positive, fertile thing to think about one another. to
think about one another. Now, let me not embarrass anyone
by mentioning any names, but if I think about you, I think
about you and it provokes me to be affectioned and kindly
concerned towards you. If I think about your face, and
I think about the wrinkles on your face, and I think about
the fact that you've got those wrinkles because you have worked
hard all your life, that you've got those wrinkles because you
have struggled with the demands of responsibility and you've
been challenged by the trials of life, that you've got those
wrinkles because you're aging and you've lost the vitality
of youth. And I think about you and I think
about your family and I think about your relationships and
I think about the trials that you face and I think about the
weakness of your flesh and I think about the way in which you struggle
with so many things. If I think about you, It provokes
me to love you because I have that affection for you. As the
Lord Jesus Christ has loved me, so I love you. And John's epistles
are full I'm only going to give you one example. Beloved, if
God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. We know
our own hearts. We know our own frailty. We know
our own stubbornness. We know our own foolishness. We know our own stupidity. And God loves us. And we ought
also to love one another. Paul says to the Thessalonians
in chapter 4 verse 9, Why? Because God places that love
in the heart of the believer for his brothers and sisters.
Paul says, And we cannot but love one another
as that grace and that mercy and that peace of God and that
knowledge of the love of God flows into our own souls. So
it flows forth again in love one to another. Listen, I can
teach a man doctrine, but only God can teach a man love. And note what Paul says here
in chapter one, verse four to the Colossians. He's speaking
about the confidence that he has for the Colossians. And he
is speaking about that confidence because he has a good hope for
these brethren. And the basis of that good hope,
the basis of that faith, the basis of that confidence is that
they have a love for the saints. It was their love for the saints.
It wasn't their doctrinal astuteness. It wasn't their ability to enumerate
the five points. It wasn't their knowledge of
where to find all the major Bible doctrines in the New Testament
epistles. It wasn't being able to give
a complete systematic overview of the doctrine of the church. It was their love that characterised
his confidence in them. Since we heard of your faith
in Christ Jesus and of the love which he hath to all the saints. That love is the manifestation
of the grace of God in a believer's heart. Colossians 1.8 he says,
who also declare unto us your love in the spirit. When we heard
you had love, We prayed for you. that you might also be filled
with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and understanding.
That's a doctrine. That's a doctrine. But when we
knew you had that love for the saints, we prayed that prayer
in the knowledge and the confidence that God would indeed speak to
you in wisdom, speak to your understanding, that you would
have a walk worthy, that you would be fruitful, that you would
increase in knowledge, that you would be strengthened in the
doctrine of God. and that you might be patient
and long-suffering with joy. Those are the things that are
built upon the love which God places in a believer's heart
as the first evidence of his grace. And it's not a false love,
it's not a contrived, it's not some sort of superficial hand
on the heart, allegiance to the flag kind of love. This is a
spiritual union that exists between the saints and it's because of
God's love towards us. In this garden, the flowers of
other graces bloom. Here's a third thing that the
Apostle shows in these concluding verses. He shows that we have
a blessed union in Christ. He says, I've never met you,
but we are one together. Paul says to the Colossians in
chapter one, verse 12, you are partakers in the inheritance
of the saints. In verse 14 he says, we have
redemption and forgiveness through his blood. We're united in that
redemptive work of Christ. We are reunited by the blood
of Jesus Christ. He says in verse 18, he is the
head of the body, the church, our peacemaker. We all are combined
together, gathered together, bound together in this union
which is ours in Christ. He says in verse 22, you are
holy and unblameable, unreprovable in the sight of God as every
believer is in Christ. He says in verse 28 of chapter
1, Christ in you, the hope of glory, that all the saints are
perfect in Christ Jesus. And then in chapter 2 verse 10
he says, ye are complete in him. Perfect and complete. We're going
to come back to that in a few moments. He says in verse 12
of chapter 2, we are buried with Him. He says in verse 20 of chapter
2, we are dead with Him. He says in chapter 3 verse 1,
we are risen with Him. And in chapter 3 verse 4, we
are in glory with Christ. This is the blessed union that
we have, wherever we may be. And in these final greetings
that the Apostle Paul conveys to the Colossians, this union
is emphasised once again. He says in verse 12 of chapter
three, we are united in Christ as the elect of God, holy and
beloved. We evidence and we exhibit externally
the features of that indwelling power because Christ lives in
us. So he says in chapter three,
verse 15, therefore, because you're Christ's, because you
are united to him and because we are all bound together in
Christ, let the peace of God rule in your hearts. You think
you're isolated? You think you're alienated? You
think you're marginalized? You think you're alone way out
there in Asia? Let the peace of God rule in
your lives, because we are bound together in Christ, to the which
also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. I think we
said it while we were going through the passage. That's the believer's
rule of life. That's the rule right there in
Colossians 3, verse 15. And all these people that come
and tell you the Ten Commandments or Moses' Law are the believer's
rule of life. No, there's the believer's rule
of life right there in Colossians 3, verse 15. I can't preach to you the law
of Moses and tell you what to do. and then tell you that you
have to have peace in your union with Christ. If somebody preaches to you the
law of Moses, then they are telling you what you need to do, how
you need to live holily. I can't even say holily, far
less tell somebody how to live holily. We preach Jesus Christ as all
our righteousness and we preach this peace as the rule in our
hearts. So the apostle can say in verse
17, after having stated that in verse 15, he says in verse
17 of chapter 3, whatsoever ye do, In word or deed, do all in
the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by Him. That's our Christian liberty,
that whatsoever we do in word or deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father
by Him. The fourth thing that we have
here in these final verses is this, that we have a common gospel
purpose. Though we may be spread widely
apart, the apostle is saying to the Colossians, we have a
common gospel purpose. His reason for writing to the
Colossians was to encourage and help these believers in Colossae
1,200 miles away. Epaphras had been their pastor.
Perhaps by Epaphras many of them had been converted and he reminds
them of Epaphras' dedication and his commitment and his zeal
and his love for them and how he speaks so highly and pleasingly
of them to the other apostles. In chapter one, verse seven,
we read it together. Epaphras, our dear fellow servant,
who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, always laboring fervently
for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in
all the will of God. For I bear him record that he
hath a great zeal for you and for them that are in Laodicea
and them in Hierapolis. And Paul also writes of his own
suffering and conflict and fear for the well-being of the Colossians. Both Epaphras and Paul share
this together. Yet he claims he rejoices in
all that suffering because they all are blessed of God in Christ. He endures suffering for the
greater good of the Colossians. He sees himself yoked together
with those Colossians and he draws them close to his own trials
by inviting them right at the very end of this little book
to remember him in his imprisonment. and thereby he shows them that
together with Epaphras and Paul and these other names that he
quotes, they share together with the Colossians in this common
gospel purpose. As indeed, brothers and sisters,
we all do. we uphold the testimony of the
Gospel amongst us. We share together, we contribute
together, we labour together, we take that yoke upon our shoulders
together in order that the Gospel may be declared. And the fifth
point and the last point is this, we serve together. We serve together
in this glorious cause that despite great opposition, ultimately
will and must succeed. All these brethren, Tychicus,
Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, Luke, Demas,
they were serving, they were ministering, they were greeting,
they were labouring, they were travelling in the gospel cause. And it is a cause that God himself
owns. It is a cause that will be victorious. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
has accomplished and fulfilled and secured everything that is
needful for his church. I was in the company of a man
yesterday whose t-shirt bore the iconic image of the photograph
of the US Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. And even if you don't know what
that is by the description that I've just given it, you will
recognize the picture if you could see it. It's where those
marines are pushing up the American flag onto the top of the mountain
there on the island of Iwo Jima after they have taken it in a
very fierce battle, I think 1945. I think there's six soldiers
in that photograph. And they are leaning into the
flag as it's planted on the mountaintop. And I thought, that's what we're
doing. That's what we're doing. That's
what Paul was doing, and Epaphras was doing, and Titicus, and Onesimus,
and that's what the Colossians were doing. They're raising a
flag to God's glory once the battle is won. And the battle
has been won. The Lord Jesus Christ has won
the battle for us. And we are leaning into that
flag, raising that flag, staking that flag, placing that flag
on the mountaintop. And we are saying victory is
ours because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. And a wonderful
thing is this, that I don't know whether it took all of those
Marines to raise that flag, But every child of God lends a hand. The whole church is in testimony
to the victory of our Saviour. The whole church is the witness,
is the testimony to the victory of our Saviour. And Paul says,
we are delivered from the power of darkness and now Christ is
our King and we are His prize. That's 14 of chapter 1, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins. And here Paul ends his letter. He says in chapter four, verse
12, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth
you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may
stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. because
perfect and complete is what we are. That is our state in
Christ. And though we have the weariness
of this flesh to contend with and the challenges of this world
to labour amongst and the assaults of the devil who tempts us and
yet grieves us and causes us to sin in the flesh, yet we are
perfect and complete in Christ. And that desire of Epaphras for
the Colossians is a fine desire of every pastor for his hearers. With this I'm finished. Paul
did not mention to the Colossians that Epaphras was in prison with
him. I wonder if you noticed that.
Perhaps that was to spare the Colossians the anxiety of knowing
that their beloved pastor was in prison in Rome. He mentioned
it in the letter that went to Philemon, but not in this. It
would appear that the two letters were carried at the same time,
because it was Onesimus that was returning to Philemon at
that time. He mentions it to Philemon, but
he doesn't mention it to the church in that letter, waiting
perhaps to have it explained to them by Tychicus when he arrives. And I think it's interesting. that that was what happened. He does, however, call Archippus
to assume the mantle of pastor and to take heed to the ministry
that he had received from the Lord and to fulfil it. Chapter
four, verse 17. And so it is just to go back
to that picture of the soldiers planting the flag on Iwo Jima. As the hand of one soldier slips
from the flag, another soldier stoops to take the weight of
that flag. And in all these things, the
Lord Jesus Christ has the glory and the preeminence. Hephaestus
would perhaps never more minister at Colossae, and so, Archippus
was called to take the weight of that burden. And we rejoice
that the Lord will retain his witness. He will always have
his people, and they may be spread, and they may be few, and they
may be relatively unknown to one another. but the Lord is
maintaining his witness and he has his people and he knows them
that are his and we are encouraged to share in this fellowship of
the gospel as the Lord enables it to be so. Amen. Thank you
for your time this evening. Thank you for listening to these
sermons from the Epistle to the Colossians.