Colossians, Pt9: Name It and Claim It

October 27, 2019                       NOTES NOT EDITED

Colossians, Pt9:  Name It; Claim It

Col. 4:2-18

SIS: Every believer should seek a place of service and sacrifice in and through the local church.

Paul concludes his message to the colossians with two important sections.  First, he discusses MINISTRY ESSENTIALS.  Second, he gives a list of MINISTRY EXAMPLES.  Let’s dive in by reading what Paul had to say about seeking a place of sacrifice and service in and through the local church.   Read: Colossians 4:2-18.

Has anyone heard about “Essential Oils?”  This is one of the latest multi-level marketing plans designed to enhance the fragrance of your bank account:  and, as a side benefit, cure everything from “sad children” to “head-aches.”  Essential oils are the extract from plants—that is, the “essence” of the plant.  For some cures, you rub the right combination for on your temples to cure headaches.  Other applications require “steaming them to cloak the air in soothing mist.”  This can magically send restless children into deep slumber with sugar plumb fairies dancing in their dreams—or so I’ve heard. 

Here are some common applications of these “essential oils.”  Peppermint: used to boost energy and aid digestion. Lavender: used to relieve stress. Sandalwood: used to calm nerves and help with focus. Bergamot: used to reduce stress and improve skin conditions like eczema. Rose: used to improve mood and reduce anxiety. Chamomile: used to improve mood and relaxation. Ylang-Ylang: used to treat headaches. Tea Tree: used to fight infections and boost immunity. Jasmine: used to help with depression, childbirth, Jasmine: used to help with depression, childbirth, and libido. Lemon: used to aid digestion, mood, headaches, and more.

I really don’t know if “essential oils are essential to our health or not.”  I’m just playing with words at this point. My concern is to examine What Paul has to say about “Ministry Essentials.”  Something “essential,” according to the dictionary is, “absolutely necessary or extremely important.”  As Paul sharpens the tip of his pencil to outline what it means to “seek a place of service and sacrifice in, and through, the local church,” he gives three “Ministry Essentials”—Pray Effectively and Fervently; Preach Christ Freely, Truly, and Clearly; and Practice Life Management Diligently.

1. Pray Effectively and Fervently (v2)

I have come to believe that the first of any “essential” activity in this life, in church or out, is to Pray Effectively and Fervently.  Paul says in v2 of Colossians 4.  “Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.”

I can’t think of an activity in life that is more essential and yet most neglected as prayer.  I’m not talking about the three-minute poems families recite before a meal.  Certainly, it is right and good to give thanks to God for the bounty we receive.  However, saying grace at a meal will hardly move the mountains that we so often face as tragic circumstances interrupt our lives with some degree of frequency.  Saying grace of a meal is not going save a soul struggling with addiction or playing in the Devil’s playground.  Saying grace over a meal, as well and good as that might be, will never break the demon-hold that the Devil has on a loved one’s soul.  For that, only prayer birthed out of deep desperation can do that.  Fervent prayer can never begin until we are at our wits end.  Only when we a truly crushed by the realization of our own depravity and need can we truly pray effectively and fervently.  Nothing in life can ever be “fixed” by any but “broken men.”  Paul moves from the Ministry Essential of Prayer to the Ministry Essential of

2.  Preaching Christ Freely, Truly, and Clearly (3-4)

³ At the same time, pray also for us that God may ❶open a door to us for the message, to speak the mystery ❷of the Messiah, for which I am in prison, ⁴ so that I may ❸reveal it as I am required to speak.

Prayer and preaching are fundamentally linked.  Preaching without prayer is powerless and prayer without preaching is mere pretext. First, Paul wanted to preach the gospel freely.  Paul often asked for prayer to “open doors for his preaching.” (cf Eph. 6:19-20; 2Thess. 3:1).  The only thing that keeps the doors open for gospel preaching is prayer.  Paul realized that many would seek to hinder his gospel efforts and restrict his freedom to preach. He was, in fact, in prison for preaching as he wrote this letter.  So, Paul was not expecting he would preach with out opposition, attack, and even threat of death.  He was asking that prayer be offered so that he would continue to preach the gospel freely, unfetterd from any “bonds of fear.”

Second Paul sought to preach “truly.”  Remember, there were many “false preachers” in Colossians, particularly those of a budding gnostic movement.  Being an effective communicator but communicating a false gospel is perhaps the worst possible combination.  There are many celebrity preachers who draw large crowds and suck in huge online listeners and all the time they are making their listeners “twice the child of hell that they are”  (Mt. 23:15).  Paul wanted not only to speak freely and effectively, but to speak truthfully. A good speaker with a false message is the greatest servant of hell making the rounds of celebrity today.

Third, Paul exhorts us to preach clearly.  I was taught early in my ministry to never use a $25 word when a nickel word would suffice. I have struggled all my ministry to preach to inspire people, not impress them with my oratorical skill.  I’d don’t know how many I have inspired, but those I’ve impressed with my oratorical skills is a very short list! A preaching professor once chided us as a class.  He said, “Some of you delight in expounding your message with great words and esoteric ideas, thinking your message is so deep nobody can see the bottom.  I dare say your messages are not deep, but simply muddy.” We don’t preach to impress others, but to rescue them.  It is ESSENTIAL we preach freely (boldly), truly, and clearly.

Prayer is a Ministry Essential.  Don’t leave home without it.  Preaching is a Ministry Essential.  Nobody gets home to heaven without it.  A third Ministry Essential is

3.  Practice Life Management Diligently (5-6).  Look at verses 5-6:

 ⁵Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.  ⁶ Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

a.  These verses talk about Managing Our DEPORTMENT.  Deportment is defined as, “the manner in which one conducts oneself in the presence of others.”  My Latin students would recognize the etymology of this word as “de, from” plus “porto, I carry.”  Hence, our deportment is how we “carry ourselves in public.”  Paul warns us to Manage Our Deportment in two ways.  One, we Manage our Deportment by❶ Watching our Walk.  Look again at verse 5, “ Act wisely toward outsiders.”  Many of you are too young to remember the Old Church Covenant that was glued to the inside cover of hymnals.  In part that covenant, or contract among the members, said:

What vows do we gladly make as stewards of that which God has entrusted to us . . . To walk circumspectly in the world, to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment, I’ve always loved those words, “walk circumspectly.”  Again, the dictionary aids our understanding.  Circumspectly means, “carefully to considering all circumstances and possible consequences.” The most dire consequence of failing to “Watch Our Walk” is that we would bring disgrace upon our Lord and make our testimony to unbelievers useless.  

 ❷ Second, we must Watch Our Talk.  Verse 6 reminds us, ⁶Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

The speech of a believer, even when one disagrees with others, should always be full of grace, and “seasoned with salt.”  What does “seasoning with salt” mean.  I read once that salt actually enhances the sweetness of food.  But more so, salt makes people thirsty.  When we Watch Our Talk, people want to hear more of what we have to say.

Somebody much wiser than I once pointed out that a non-believer has only one of two problems.  The first problem is a matter of information—the non-believer simply does not know a Christian.  The second problem is that a non-believer DOES know a Christian and that Christian has failed to Manage His or Her Deportment.  While the first problem is one of information, the second problem is one of “transformation.”  As we Practice Life Management, we must Manage our Deportment.

b.  We must also MANAGE OUR TIME.  Look at verse 5 again,

⁵Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.  Paul said something similar in Ephesians 5:15-16,  The KJV says, “¹⁵ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, ¹⁶ Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” 

One of the greatest gifts, second only to salvation perhaps, is the gift of time.  A very beloved pastor points out, “Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time.”(R.W.).

There are two primary Greek words for time.  Kronos refers to chronological time or the passing of seconds on a clock.  Paul uses here the word, Kairos, which refers to a critical or strategic moment or opportunity.  The crisis of time Paul refers to has to do with the saving of souls through the preaching of the gospel.  When we misuse the time we have been given here on earth, others miss the opportunity to hear the gospel and receive Jesus as the Lord of their lives.  There are three aspects of the time of our lives which Paul alludes to in this passage.

❶ One, we must redeem the time LOST in our lives. We have already lost much, too much of the time of our lives.  The lost time of our lives refers to the missed opportunities of yesterday.  We can never get these moments back. One of the most encouraging promises in the Bible is Joel 2:25 KJV, “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.

 One scholar described these “lost” times as the moments we wasted, “by procrastination, pleasure, laziness, disobedience, etc.” My two latest regrets are: 1) the 18 years I lost before I was saved; and 2) the many lost opportunities to pray for and preach to the lost of this world.  The only way to “redeem” this lost time is to decide today not to lose any more. Paul says in Ephesians we must “redeem, or take great care with our time” because, “the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16).  This means that the Devil is active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  His minions never sleep and each opportunity we squander, the Devil steals for his devilish plan. 

This brings us to a second issue in regard to Managing our Time:  ❷Redeeming the Time LOANED.  By time “loaned” I am referring to concentrating on the present, so that it does not become the lost time of yesterday.  Philosophers would call this an “existential” perspective; or, an intense concentration on “now.”  What can I do right now in this present moment to bring honor and glory to God?  We just read last week about what it means to use every moment for the glory of God.  Colossians 3:23 says, “ Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically,  as something done for the Lord and not for men.” That’s how we redeem the time LOANED to us today! We must take great care to redeem the time LOST, redeem the time LOANED, and

❸ Redeem the time LEFT. 

Psalm 90:12 (NLT) says, “Teach us to realize the brevity of life.” The Book of James gives a similar instruction, ¹⁴ You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes (Jam. 4:14). The Apostle John also mentions the importance of considering the time we have left, We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day.  Night is coming when no one can work (Jn. 9:4).

Exactly what John has in mind, and whether it was prophetic message pointing to the Last Days when evil will overtake the world, or if it is a cryptic reference to the darkness of death, one thing is for sure—TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR ALL OF US!  The great theologian, Dr. Seuss once exclaimed, “How did it get so late so soon?” 40 years ago I remember hearing old preachers—those decrepit old men in their late 60’s—say, “time flies by before you know, and then you are old.”  There comes that moment of crisis in life when a man realizes he has more years behind him than ahead of him.  We must redeem the Time LEFT.   

The beloved Saint of the Slums speaks of the necessity to redeem the time lost, redeem the time loaned, and redeem the time left.  Mother Teresa said, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” 

We must Practice Life Management, managing our Deportment and our Time.  Paul starts the beginning of the end of his teaching to the Colossians on reminding them of the MINISTRY ESSENTIALS:  Praying Effectively and Fervently; Preaching Christ Freely, Truly, and Clearly; and Practicing Life Management Diligently.  Then, the venerable apostle gives 11 MODELS FOR MINISTRY.  Ministry is a “team sport.”  Everyone needs to seek a place of service and sacrifice in and through the church and claim as their own.  Paul mentions a few models of people who did just that. A quick survey of these Models demonstrates God can and does use anyone and everyone.

1.  In verse 7 Paul mentions Tychicus.  “⁷ Tychicus,  our dearly loved brother, faithful  servant, and fellow slave in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ⁸ I have sent him to you for this very purpose. Tychicus is an example of  “Availability.”  When a task came up, Tychicus was Mr. Availability.  Paul needed a trusted associate to deliver an important message, and standing right there by his side was Tychicus.  He was ready, able and willing.  He was a “go to” kind of guy.

2.  Verse 9 mentions Onesimus:  “a faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you.” Onesimus was a runaway slave mentioned in Paul’s letter besieging Philemon to accept him as a brother.  Onesimus is an example of “Overcomer.”  It takes a lot of grit and gut to be a follower of Christ.  How thankful we are for those stories of “Overcomers.”  Onesimus just didn’t quit.  He didn’t surrender to his circumstances, by grace he overcame them.

3.  Aristarchus, verse 10: an example of “LOYALTY.” This is the kind of church member that may not stand out, but always seems to be there when he or she is needed. Aristarchus is called, “my fellow prisoner.”  He was there through thick and thin, good and bad.

4.  Verse 10 also mentions, Mark (John Mark).  He is an example of “Second Chances.” Remember, Mark abandoned Paul on Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts 12:12, 25).  Paul wouldn’t take him on the Second Missionary Journey, so Mark went with his cousin, Barnabas. Touched by grace, Mark took advantage of his “second chance” eventually blessed by God to pen the Second Gospel.

5.  Barnabas was mentioned along with Mark.  Barnabas is best described by translating his name. It means, “Son of Encouragement.”  Every local church needs an abundance of Barnabas’s, or is it Barnabi?  In any case, Barnabas modeled encouragement.

6.  Justus (called Jesus):  an example of “Humility.”  He is mentioned along with Mark and Barnabas, but nothing else is known of him.  His name was rather common, but his service merited mention. Yet, he served in relative obscurity to all but the Lord. 

7.  Epaphras, mentioned in Chapter 1 is mentioned again in 4:12-13.
“Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always contending for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.  ¹³ For I testify about him that he works hard for you.”  Epaphras was an “elder, the pastor of the Colossian church.”  Don’t confuse him with how we presently view a “Baptist Pastor.”  No mention is made of his ordination or graduation from seminary.  Two great attributes are highlighted in the life of a New Testament Elder.  One, he is a PRAYER WARRIOR.  Two, he is a “hard worker.”  Giving guidance to a local church requires both these qualities in abundance.  These are the top two qualities I seek for my life.

8.  Luke (v14), “dearly beloved physician”. He an example of a “Talented Specialist.”  Some folk in church have distinctive skills and training and can use their unique talents to spread the gospel in ways others could not, like teaching English in the Arab Emirates; or going as a doctor to treat poor people in China.  Every church needs talented specialists like plumbers, electricians and such who can volunteer their vocational skills for the good of the church’s mission.

9.  I will skip Demas for now and save the worst for last.  Nympha (v15) is the only woman on the list, but far from the only woman highlighted in the Holy Writ as servants in the Kingdom of God.  Our text says that Nympha had a “church in her house.”  The text does not suggest she taught or had any leadership.  Nympha is an example of “Hospitality.” 

10.  The list of Models for Ministry closes out with Archippus (v17).  He is the example of “Diligence.”  He was a careful, strategic leader who paid attention to the details.  In fact, Paul encouraged him to continue to “pay attention to the ministry you have received.” 

11.  Now, back to Demas is mentioned in verse 14 along with Luke.  I’ve left him for last, but would just a soon leave him out altogether.  He is a Model of What Not To Be As a Minister.  In 2Timothy 4:10 we are told Demas abandoned Paul, “because he loved this present world!”  He abandoned the mission of the gospel in favor of personal pleasure and gain.  I’m afraid so many in church members have “Claimed Demas as their personal, patron saint” abandoning the work of the gospel in favor of the worship of pleasure. (This probably bears repeating).

Well, there you have it my brothers and sisters, the conclusion of the great letter of Paul to the Colossians that highlights the Supremacy of Jesus Christ and how our lives should reflect a clear understanding of that supremacy and a complete and unyielding surrender to Him as the Lord of our lives.

We must put into place the MINISTRY ESSENTIALS and discover a MINISTRY MODEL to follow.  Now, let’s not just set aside what we have learned, but let us resolve to lift the Lord high and spread His Word afar.