"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. 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, 26 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. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." Good Morning My Beloved,
Welcome to worship this Lord's Day!
We are so glad to have all of our brothers and sisters in Christ from all around the world with us today!
We are praying for all of you.
Someone has said, "We can live forty days without food, eight days
without water, four minutes without air, but only a few seconds without
hope."
As Christians, we are blessed to have living hope through Christ of eternal life. Those with a temporal hope, however, will find themselves at war with their fellow man. Because peace with ones self and others, is impossible without eternal hope. A temporal hope is no hope at all.
Let us bow our heads..
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your wonderful Word for us today. Thank You for Your calling upon our hearts, that we have come to receive Christ. Though we will never understand the mystery of why you have chosen us, we are grateful. Lord, we pray that You will grant us the boldness and courage, to faithfully share the truths we’re about to learn from Your Word. Open the eyes and ears, soften the hearts of the hearers of the truth, that they would humbly receive it.
In Jesus' name
Amen
Today's Message: The Call To Suffer
Many believers today seem to be confused about their purpose for living. For some, Christianity is just not working for them. I believe that this may well be the reason many Christians have no impact on the lives of others in the world. I believe that they lack a clear understanding of their God given purpose.
God created you for a purpose; His purpose. And He has a plan for your life.
Some of you may know the feeling of hopelessness. Perhaps, when you look at
your marriage, you see only despair. When you think about your children, whether they are still young and at home or full grown, now on their own, you wonder what kind of a
future there is for them. When you consider your life and all of the mistakes
that you have made, you are tempted to give up hope that anyone could
ever love you, forgive you and make something good out of your life.
Those who were present at the crucifixion of our Lord, knew all about the need for hope in order to be able to continue. They listened as Jesus said, "Father, into your hands, I commend my
spirit," and then, they watched as He would bow His head for the last time. Their guts wrenched, as they watched the Roman soldier plunged his spear into His side, removing all doubt, that Jesus was really dead. They knelt at the foot of the cross, weeping, as the one who carried all their hopes and dreams was now dead.
Open with me your Bibles to the book of Colossians. As we conclude our study of this wonderful, first chapter, so rich, we come to the final verses 24 through 29.
I would like to encourage you to follow along with me as I read to you this rich Word from our Lord.
"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. 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, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 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. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me."
In verse 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."
Hope endures even through suffering. Hope endures even through suffering. Let's be realistic, suffering has been a part of what it means to be human ever since sin
entered into the world. And although, Jesus paid for our sins on the
cross with His own blood, suffering remains present with us and will continue
until this world is a part of history.
Beloved, you have a decision to make. You can either let suffering steal your
hope, or you can hold onto that hope by concentrating on some of the
positive things that come out of suffering. For example, suffering can bring believers closer to Christ.
In Philippians 3:10 which says "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;" this teaches us total dependence on Him. How many of you have been through
circumstances where you knew that you would not have made it through
without the Lord being there?
Suffering also brings people closer
together. Jesus said that we should expect persecution and suffering. They
persecuted Him; He promised that they would persecute us. That’s what
Paul is talking about in in verse 24 when he says that he had to fill up
Christ’s afflictions. It's not that Jesus' death and resurrection wasn’t
sufficient to pay for Paul’s or our salvation. It is that the world
continues to pour out its hatred of Jesus, and what He stood for, upon us.
Beloved, this will continue until one day, God says that the cup is full, and His
judgment will be poured out. Suffering itself and the attacks of the
enemy confirm that I am a part of God’s family.
In John 15:18, Jesus told us, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you."
Another very critical part of our suffering, is that it us as reminds believers, that this world is not eternal and it is not home.
Let's be honest, suffering changes us. Suffering produces hope within the heart of believers.
Romans 5:2-5 says "through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
We have learned the extent of God’s mercy in God’s mighty work of reconciliation on the
cross one can choose to rejoice in his sufferings. It a privilege to
suffer for the name of Christ as we see in verse 24. And we have seen the evidence in Acts chapter 9, verse 4, that Christ continues to suffer when Christians suffer for Him. When on the road to Damascus he asked "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
Every time that you make it over an obstacle in your life, it gives
you a hope that empowers you to make it over the next obstacle that comes
along. When you are faced with a situation that threatens to steal your
hope, look back. Look back at all those other times in your life, when you thought
there was no hope. And through God's grace, you made it through. I would like to inform you, beyond all certainly, God is still the same today as
He has always been, He is still in control and His power is still available to you. You can make
it over the next obstacle!
In II Timothy 3:12, Paul warned Timothy, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." If you’re not suffering, it
evidently means you’re not living godly. It could even mean you’re not a
Christian. So when you suffer say, "Thank You, Lord! This suffering
affirms that I am Yours, and that I’m becoming more like You!"And in I Peter 4:14, Peter
tells suffering Christians, "If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." Suffering causes believers to sense the presence of the
Holy Spirit in their lives, which gives assurance of salvation.
Suffering captures the attention of unbelievers to bring them to
Christ.
I know that some of you here today, do not have Jesus Christ as your
personal Lord and Savior. Right now, you are either in the middle of a
struggle in your life, or one is soon coming down the road. We all go through them. However, as you face that struggle, I encourage you not to just accept it as a fact of life,
but recognize it for what it is. The voice of God calling out to
you trying to get your attention.
I pray that will not ignore His voice. Whatever
situation you may be facing right now will end. But when you die, your
response to God's calling, will ultimately determine your final fate. Your
suffering will either eternally end or it will have just eternally just begun!
We see in verse 25, that hope sustains our purpose. "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"
Paul had a purpose, which was given to him by God. He was to be a
servant to the churches, delivering the gospel message to them and helping
them to grow in their faith. We know that Paul went through a lot of pain in order to
fulfill that purpose. He was stoned, imprisoned, beaten, betrayed and
shipwrecked. But he never lost hope. However, because he had a purpose, that purpose
kept him going!
Our Lord Jesus also had a purpose. He said that He came to seek and to save that which
was lost. He came for us. I wonder if when He looked down through
history and saw you sitting there if He was tempted to give up hope. As
soon as I ask a question like that, I am thoroughly convinced, the answer is no!
Jesus knew that there was hope for any situation. It was that hope that
kept Him going so that He could fulfill His purpose.
In Hebrews 12:2, it
says that "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
In other words, Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before
Him. He endured the cross because He was anticipating the joy of having
you and me as part of His family. Jesus looked beyond the suffering on the cross to see you! What an act of love.
Another purpose for suffering, it silences Satan. Suffering silences Satan. He wants suffering to harm us, but God brings good out of it. He wants suffering to harm us, but God brings good out of it.
Suffering results in the salvation of others. Throughout Church history, it is filled
with accounts of those who came to Christ after watching other
Christians endure suffering. When we do not fall down, it show the unbelieving world, the true measure of our faith in Christ.
Verse 26 says, "that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,"
Beloved, the truth is that each and every one of you has value, hope and potential. You
are made in the image of God. When I remember that reality, that wonderful truth about others and
about myself, it gives me hope. It blocks Satan's lies so that I am able to see the
truth.
By the way, the word mystery, or "mustérion" in the Greek, appears
in the New Testament 28 times. Paul was saying that something which
was once concealed has now been revealed. The
church was unknown in the Old Testament, because it had been kept hidden
for ages and generations. In fact, it was only after Christ that it was
"disclosed to the saints." Since the church resulted from His death on
the cross, it could not possibly have been in existence in the Old
Testament.
The grace of God so outrageous. By all human reasoning, it just doesn’t
make sense. Look at verse 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."
This amazing gospel is now revealed among the Gentiles, whereas previously God’s special revelation was to the Jews.
I continue to be amazed at how God would allow me to experience
salvation through Christ. I certainly didn't earn, I don’t deserve it, and neither do
you. When we contemplate the magnitude of this astounding truth, we will engage our
time, our talents, and our treasures and serve Him accordingly.
One
of my favorite things as a pastor is to watch believers get fired up to
serve in areas that are a match for who God created them to be. If you
don’t understand where you need to be serving Christ, I encourage you to
sign-up for a mentoring class. To better help you to understand the
commission that God is calling you to.
The inner content of this mystery and hope is "Christ in you." We are in Christ, and Christ is in us! The
presence of Christ in an individual’s life constitutes our hope of glory
and for glory. Believers are indwelt by Christ, and therefore have "the
glorious riches." The indwelling Christ is our hope of glory. He is the shekianah of God.
Christ is our glory and hope both now and at the
consummation of the ages. It
is hope, because we have not yet received our full inheritance.
The Holy Spirit indwelling in us, in the down payment of our
inheritance, it is our assurance. Because of Christ, as believers, we
can look forward to sharing His glory. Therefore, we don’t have to wait
until heaven to enjoy the fruits of a relationship with the Lord.
Satan
will do one of two things, he will either try to convince you the
situation is hopeless, or he will entice you to look in all the wrong
places, the things of this world. People in this world are desperately
looking for hope, however, they are looking for it in the wrong
places. False hopes are likely worse than having no hope at all. When
false hopes come crashing
to the ground, it makes us believe that there is no secure place for us
to go where we can find real hope. There is only one place that you can
find secure hope, genuine hope. In a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ!
In verse 28, Paul instructs us to move people to Christian
maturity. "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every
man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in
Christ."
The first is "proclaim Him." All we do is to be Christ centered. What ever we do as a
church needs to be centered around Christ. Christ must be the center of
every event, each meeting, and each discussion or conversation.
The second emphasis is on "admonishing." Admonishing carries with it the idea of warning, or helping to set someone’s mind
into proper order. The Apostle Paul did not hold back when he thought someone needed
to be "admonished," or warned about what they were doing or about what they believed. And, we
need to be willing to admonish one another in a spirit of love, as well
as receive warning and correction when it's needed.
The third emphasis is on "teaching," or the Greek word, "didaskó," meaning instructing, impart knowledge,
which refers to the clear communication of the Word of God. Instruction
in creed and conduct is critical to Christian growth.
Jesus left us the
responsibility in Matthew 28:20
to teach disciples to obey everything He commanded. We need to look for
opportunities to teach and we need to make sure we’re taking advantage
of learning opportunities. The goal of proclaiming Christ through admonishment and teaching is so
that we can present everyone perfect, "teleion," meaning having reached its end, complete in Christ.
As a footnote, I'd like to draw your attention to the word "every man." It is repeated twice, which shows
that every single believer is capable of Christian maturity. This
central task is linked to a threefold emphasis.
An effective presentation of the gospel always includes both warning and
teaching. The warning is that without Christ, people are lost and
headed to the agony of hell. The teaching is that salvation is available
only by grace through faith in Christ.
Our job as a church is not just to admonish, or even to teach. We do
those things in order to create spiritually mature Christ-followers. We
should all be in the process of growth, of becoming more like Jesus
every day. Our focus is not on numerical growth, but on spiritual
growth. We don’t want to just build buildings; we want to build
believers. We’re all about transformation, not just information.
The Apostle Paul desperately wanted everyone to become complete in Christ. The word
perfect means "full grown, spiritually mature or "complete." Believers are not to
remain spiritual babies but in becoming spiritually
mature. Paul prayed and worked for the complete sanctification of believers. Therefore, he preached the "fullness" of the gospel so that believers could have the fullness of life Jesus promise.
If we’re serious about moving people to maturity then we can’t be
passive or lazy. Instead, we must… Energetically Work Wholeheartedly.
Let's look at verse 29,"For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me."
When Paul says, "To this end I labor," he’s referring to proclaiming
Christ and presenting believers. "To this end" he expended all his
God-given strength. He labors and struggles in this task. Developing
maturity in believers took great labor, kopiō, meaning to grow weary, toil and even struggling.
The word "struggle, or "agónizomai, the Greek word used here, meaning I contend, as with an adversary. Comes from the root word in Greek, "agṓn" from which we get the English word "agony," or agonizing like an athlete in an arena. Our power for this struggle, comes from Christ. By the way, both of these words were used of athletes competing in the arena, or of a laborer
working to the point of exhaustion. Paul used this same word at the end
of his life as he reflected on how he had lived in II Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."
We are called to become spiritually fatigued in order to move people toward complete, full
devotion to Christ. I’m humbled by the many people who minister, who tirelessly labor for the gospel, with that kind of determination. If you grow weary, as you
reach out to others, you’re in the good company of the Apostle Paul. Paul does not just work in his own strength, he relies on the power of Christ as he struggles with all His energy. In the Greek text, there’s a play on words here. We might translate it
this way: "Striving according to His energy which powerfully energizes
within me." Paul surrendered his availability to God’s ability. God’s power is given to us to accomplish the purpose for which He has
created and called us.
In Closing...
When you’ve given up hope, you think all is lost, and it looks like you’re getting ready to go over the edge, bear in mind, God the Father is still on His throne, the Holy Spirit is still in the business of saving souls, and Jesus, who rose on the third day from out of the tomb, is coming back again.
It is for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. I encourage you to also invite Christ to live His life in you and through you; to love through
you, forgive through you, suffer through you; reveal His Word in and
through you. The Christian is the dwelling place of God, the riverbed of
the glorious flowing streams of the Living Word.
Since Christ in
all of us, who are saved, He will provide you with His same supernatural strength and explosive
energy as He did Paul, as we labor to propel people to maturity.
May it be so...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2021 All Rights Reserved
