Word of Salvation – Vol. 44 No.39 – October 1999

 

Paul's Commission Work and Purpose

 

Sermon by Rev P Smit

on Colossians 1:24- 2:5

Scripture Readings: John 15:18 - 16:4

Suggested Hymns: BoW 46, 467; 444; 205; 180; Rej 458; 555

 

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ.

There's something amazing about Paul.  He wrote this letter to a Christian church that was going off the rails.  They had got hooked on some way-out teaching that said that if they lived a certain way and did certain spiritual exercises they could work their way into heaven.  They needed something more than simply believing in Christ.  In a sense they were turning their back on the gospel – the Good News that Jesus came to save them and forgive them.

Paul didn't start this letter by ripping into them.  He didn't bash them with words and beat them into line with threats.  He spoke to them with grace.  He began with thanks.  In Chapter 1:3 he said, "We always thank God for you, when we pray." That's grace.  That's love.  He was thankful for their deep faith in Jesus Christ, and for their love for all the saints.

Not only was he thankful as he prayed for these dear Christians, in verse 9 he said, "We have not stopped praying for you."  He was praying non-stop that He would fill them with the knowledge of God.  God would fill them with strength, endurance and patience.

Remember how we were challenged to pray non-stop for others and ourselves.  We need that reminder again, don't we?  Then Paul laid it out clearly for the Colossians that you can't work your way to heaven.  In verse 15 Paul said that Jesus alone is the image of God, and he alone can save us from our sin.  Jesus Christ is God's son.  And by God's grace he has reconciled us.  He made peace with us through the cross.

Paul had a wonderful message to share; a message of hope.  He wrote to these Colossians to point out the truth about Jesus.  He didn't clobber the Colossians with words.  He set out the truth plainly.  For them and us.  The reason he did is because God had commissioned him.  God's hand was on his life.  He called him to a special work.  God had given him a special purpose.  Today we're going to look at Paul's commission, Paul's work and Paul's purpose.

Let's receive God's Word today, and pray that he will commission us to a work, with the same purpose Paul had.

First up...

1.  Paul's Commission

In verse 24 Paul says, "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church."

Do you rejoice in suffering?  If you're like me, you'll probably say, "No".  But people often say, the time that I grew in my faith in God the most was through a time of suffering.  A Christian looks at suffering through different eyes than a non-Christian.  As Christians we know that God can turn our hardships into good.  He does.  Suffering deepens us; it teaches us to trust more in our Saviour.  We have nowhere else to tum.

But Paul shows us a new dimension.  When he suffered he realised that he was suffering for Christ.  "I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions," he says in verse 24.  That doesn't mean that Paul needed to finish the suffering Jesus left unfinished on the cross.  What Jesus did there was final and complete.  In God's eyes Jesus' death was sufficient to pay for all our wrongdoing.

What Paul means is that he is suffering for Jesus.  Paul suffered just as Jesus had to suffer.  If we are fair dinkum about serving God, we will suffer, too.  Suffering is part of the Christian life.

Paul was writing this letter from Rome where he was under house arrest.  Acts 28 tells us that although he was imprisoned in his house, he could freely preach the gospel.  But he was still a prisoner.  See that in Colossians 4:10 and 18, where he speaks of his fellow prisoner and the chains with which he was tied.  Paul rejoiced in this suffering, because he knew that God would use it not just for his good but for the church.

Suffering is very unpopular.  We don't queue up in the suffering line.  We want to avoid persecution, rejection and hardship.  But if our hope is in God, if our joy is in Christ, then we can bear it, in his strength, and we can know that God will use it to build us and others up.

When the bishop of Madras was touring India, he was introduced to a young slave girl who was an outstanding witness for the Lord.  By her quiet persistence in telling others of Jesus and His love, she had won many to Christ.  As the bishop looked at her, he saw that her face, neck, and arms were badly scarred.  She had received many beatings for her faithful testimony.  With tears in his eyes he asked, “Child, how could you bear this brutality?"  Somewhat surprised, she replied, "Aren't you glad if you can suffer for Christ, sir?"  Her humble response spoke to his heart.  It reminded him that if one is true to the Saviour, he can expect ridicule and even harsh treatment from the world.

Jesus said in John 15:18 – “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." And in Mark 13:13 – "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Paul was ready to suffer for the gospel.  He was ready to show God's love through suffering.  Perhaps you are suffering right now.  Suffering because you want to serve God; want to live out God's word.  You're sacrificing much to do what God wants.  Jesus will tell you, Paul will tell you, ministers will tell you; any Christian who's honestly serving God will tell you: serving the gospel costs.  You will suffer.  But God knows your sacrifice.  So persevere.  Keep on.  Trust in God.  He will reward you.

The reason Paul was willing to suffer was because Jesus had commissioned him.  in verse 25 Paul said, "I have become the churches' servant by the commission God gave me.”  Jesus had revealed to Paul that he wanted him to tell non-Jewish people about God's love for them.  This was God's mysterious plan that had been hidden for all time.

Paul came to tell people like you and me, not only about Jesus saving us, but also about Christ being in us.  That is probably the most staggering truth in the Bible; that Jesus Christ can live in you, that his Holy Spirit can take up residence in your life; that through his Spirit, the hope of glory can be yours.

When you've seen a loved one pass away, when all your props are taken away in life, it's then that you are faced with the reality of eternity.  It's only when we trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour that the hope of glory can truly be ours.

It sounds so simple: "Christ in you."  But it is so deep.  So profound!  To know the Spirit of Christ in us; transforming us; changing us; ministering to us; renewing us; deepening our hope; teaching us the way to life.  God commissioned Paul to tell us about it; to make the mystery of God's love in Christ available to you.  That was Paul's commission to make it known.  But what about his work?

Let's take a look at...

2.  Paul's Work

In verses 28 and 29 Paul said, “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."

li is a real privilege to be able to sit down and have God's Word proclaimed to us.  It is a blessing to hear the Lord's truth, teased out and applied to our lives.  At times we need a loving admonition; a firm word; a rebuke.  At times God's Word cuts through our pride and spurs us on to a changed life, a changed attitude, a deeper obedience.

The work of ministry for Paul was to proclaim Christ, to admonish the wayward, to teach everyone with all wisdom, with insight, with breadth of understanding and with direct application of God's truth – in order that every one of God's people may be perfect in Christ; that you may be "perfect in Christ".  Paul's work was to aim at making God's people perfect in Christ.  What high standards!  What a responsibility!

To this end Paul says he laboured (in verse 29); he struggled with all Christ's energy, which so powerfully worked in him.

People of God, know that your pastor too, is called to this high calling.  He is called to proclaim Christ, to lovingly admonish you, to teach you with wisdom, insight, breadth of understanding and direct application.  Know that this ministry is difficult, this ministry is taxing, this ministry at times causes pastors to struggle.  But this ministry must be empowered by God.  Like Paul, your pastor needs all of Christ's energy working powerfully within him.

For the privilege of receiving God's Word each Sunday, for the privilege of receiving God's truth with wisdom, there is a price you must pay.  You must pay the price of prayer.  Pray for your pastor.  Pray weekly that the Lord would fill him with all wisdom and insight to supply a word that is heaven sent.  Pray that God's energy will fill your pastor, join him in praying for that.  Join him in this important work.

We've seen Paul's commission, we've seen his work, now let's get to his purpose.

3.  His Purpose

See verses 2 and 3 of chapter 2: "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

God's purpose for Christian ministry is not to tear people down.  God's purpose, which was Paul's purpose, was that the church may be encouraged in heart, and united in love; that we may have all the riches of understanding God's Word and his Son, Jesus.

Doesn't that give you hope... that through your minister, God wants to encourage you, bless you, so that your life will be rich with the treasure of God's truth and knowledge?

There are so many treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in the Scriptures.  These treasures find their fulfilment in Christ.  Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

God wants you to know Christ.  God wants to pour into your heart a full and rich knowledge of the love of God shown in Jesus Christ.  Jesus came to show you the way.  He came to teach you the truth.  He came to bring you into life, eternally.

Paul says, in Christ we have the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  You only need to open your Bible to find them.  Those treasures are there for you.  Let's make it a habit to search God's truth and meditate on it.  Jesus promises to teach us and speak to us through it.

Paul says in chapter 2:4, don't let anyone deceive you with fine sounding arguments, that you can earn your way to heaven.  Don't let the universities, and schools, and colleges tell you that Jesus is a myth; because he isn't.  He is alive, and he is King of this world.  His spirit is moving in this world and this church.  And if you reach out to him, you'll find real life.

Paul had a commission: to deciare God's Word to us, who are non-Jews.  But his commission meant he had to suffer.  Maybe God has commissioned you for a particular ministry of service in His church or in the world.  Remember you will suffer if you serve him.  Be ready.  And persevere.  Jesus will reward you.

Paul worked: labouring hard to make the church perfect in Christ.  Are you involved in ministry?  At home, in Sunday school, or children's ministry, or adult fellowship?  We can only do it in God's energy.  So depend on him.  Do your best to lead others to a beautiful understanding of who Christ is.  Live that they may see him.  Seek in God's strength to make other Christians more like Jesus, through your encouragement.

Paul had a purpose.  His purpose was to encourage the church.  To see them united in love.  To pray that God would bless their lives with the rich and wonderful knowledge of Jesus.  You and I have that purpose, too.

May this be the time that you encourage the church; that you strive to see them united in love.  May this be a time of feasting on Christ.  He is our way, our truth, our life.  He is with us.  He is our hope of glory.

Amen.