Introduction
Tomorrow is the official anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 499 years ago the Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nailed 95 reasons why one should not be able to pay his/her way into heaven to the door of the castle-church in Wittenberg. As the theology of the Reformation became more developed, the Reformers rallied around five basic doctrines or truths:
1. The Scriptures alone are the ultimate rule of faith and practice;
2. The salvation of God's elect is entirely due to God's grace;
3. Faith is the only instrument through which God's elect may receive the righteousness of Christ imputed to them;
4. Christ alone saves;
5. All glory is to be given to God alone.
These truths were important to them because they are plastered all over the Bible, and yet they had been hidden by the Church from the people for centuries.
The first chapter of the letter to the Colossians is a great example of the fourth pillar of the Reformation: Christ alone saves! Paul gives us an incredibly high view of Christ. He is the God/Man, Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Goal of the entire universe.
Paul is a minister, that is, a servant of this Christ and of this Christ's Gospel. He wants to present the Colossians with this grand picture of Christ and the Gospel because they are being and will be tempted to embrace something lesser than Christ under the guise of being better for them or being more sophisticated.
Paul takes a moment now to describe to the Colossians and two us what it means to be a minister of Christ and of his Gospel. At the center of his description is hope.
I. Ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ Involves Suffering, 24-25.
A. Paul rejoices in his suffering because it is accomplishing something – the spread of the Gospel.
1. The specific suffering Paul is referring to is his being in house arrest in Rome because of the preaching of the Gospel to non-Jews.
2. But generally he is referring to all that he has suffered and will suffer for sake of proclaiming the Gospel.
2 Cor. 11:22-33(a sample) – Are they Hebrews? So amI. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, inperils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.
3. He rejoiced in his suffering, not because he was a masochist – I am sure he would prefer to have a life of easy.
4. He rejoiced because the suffering he experienced was the result of serving Christ faithfully, was beneficial to the Church, and was nothing compared with what Christ had in store for him.
a. Result of serving Christ faithfully: 2 Tim. 3:12 – Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
b. Was beneficial to the Church, 24.
1) As far as we know, Paul never suffered directly because he ministered to the Colossians.
2) But the Colossians are part of the Church and Paul's suffering has opened the door for the Gospel.
c. Was nothing compared with what Christ had in store for him.
2 Cor. 4:16-18– Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen aretemporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
5. Paul's, and the Christian's suffering complements the afflictions of Christ.
a. It is not that the suffering of Christ on the cross wasn't enough for the salvation of the world.
b. It is that when the Church suffers she display her union with her suffering Savior.
c. And when the Body suffers it adds to the suffering of its Head.
Acts 9:1-5 – Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
B. Paul is willing to suffer for the sake of the church because what God gave him: stewardship of the Gospel, 25.
1. Stewardship = management
2. The stewardship of the Gospel is given to all who believe in Christ – what are you doing with it?
II. Ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ Unveils the Hope of Glory, 26-27.
A. The fulfillment of the Word of God is the unveiling of the ultimate plan of God, 25b-26.
1. The word mystery in the Bible does not mean a secret that nobody knows what it is.
2. It means that there was a secret that people didn't know, but now it has been made known.
a. Maybe there were hints about it.
b. But not a lot of clarity.
3. That secret has been revealed to the saints, that is, to us.
B. The secret that has been hinted at, but now is clear is that God's plan is to save Gentiles in the same way he saves Jews – faith in Jesus Christ, 27.
1. Throughout the OT, God hinted that he was going save the world.
Is. 51:4-6 – Listen to Me, My people; and give ear to Me, O My nation: for law will proceed from Me, and I will make My justice rest as a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait upon Me, and on My arm they will trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment, and those who dwell in it will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not be abolished.
2. But in the OT, the people were to come to Israel in order to find the light.
a. The people of God didn't really realize that God had bigger plans than being an ethnic God.
b. The people of God became selfishly satisfied with keeping God to themselves.
c. But God's plans were so much bigger – he was going to bless the nations!
Gen. 22:15-18 – Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which ison the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
3. The revelation that Jesus is the Christ is the richness, the wealth, of God's glory.
4. And it is in this big plan of God in Christ that hope dwells – more in a moment.
III. Ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ Is Energized by Christ Himself, 28a, 29.
A. Notice the intensity with Paul ministers the Gospel, 28a – warning everyperson, teaching every person, presenting every person.
B. Notice that all these "everys" are describing how Paul preaches Christ.
1. We see these "everys" and we are quick to say that Paul must not have meant every.
2. But what if he did?
a. Paul was not selective in his evangelism
b. Every person he met or heard about (like the Colossians) became the object of his evangelism.
c. We often hide behind the "opportunity did not present itself" excuse for why every person doesn't mean every person for our context.
d. Paul seemed to have been more about creating opportunities than waiting for them to show up.
e. Are there people in your life who have been there for a little while to whom you have never articulated the Gospel because somehow you haven't found the right opportunity to do so?
1) Pray that the Lord would give you a greater burden for their souls.
2) Then go and create an opportunity to articulate the Gospel to them.
C. The apostolic work is hard work, but the worker is energized by the power of God, 29.
IV. Ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ Has Spiritual Maturity as a Goal, 28b.
A. The whole point of proclaiming the Gospel is the growth of those who believe in Jesus – perfect = complete, wholly mature.
B. There is no such thing as a believer that doesn't grow.
How Shall We then Live? In Hope!
We proclaim the Gospel of a big God who is saving people of every single nation. We speak about Christ with every person in our sphere of influence. We suffer gladly for the sake of the proclamation of the Gospel, if God has that for us. Why we do all that? Simple! We are hopeful people. Paul says that Christ in us is the hope of glory. Our hope is in our deliverance in the coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of our body.
Titus 2:11-13 – For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ….
Our hope is in the Lord and this hope is a confident expectation that "he who began a good work in us will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ." Our hope enables us to hold the things of this life with an open hand. Our hope remains true even when we are at the bottom of the pit of despair and depression. And it is the only thing that will get us out of there.
Our hope strengthens and carries us in the face of betrayal and broken relationships. It is our confident expectation in the promises of God that allows us to declare that God is good in the midst of having our bodies ravished my cancer. Our hope continues to be our hope even when the mind can no longer remember it because dementia has robbed us of our memories.
So we live in hope – the hope that tells us that we will see our Savior face-to-face and he will look us right in the eyes and tell us, "Well done, my good faithful servant."
Heb. 6:19 – This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil….
Rom. 5:5 – Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2016/10/christ-our-hope-colossians-124-29.html
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