Colossians 4:1-18: “Paul Admonishes The Church
To Prayer And Also To Making The Most Of Opportunities With Outsiders / Final
Salutations”
By
1.
In our last
study, we looked at verses 14-25 of chapter 3.
1.1.
Paul told us to
put on love because it is the bond of our unity. We looked at the importance of maintaining
unity in the body of Christ.
1.2.
Paul told us to let
the peace of Christ rule in our life.
1.3.
Paul told us to
let the word of Christ richly dwell within us and even that we are to share His
word with each other and sing different types of songs based upon His word.
1.4.
Paul told us to
do all that we do in the name of Christ
1.5.
Finally, Paul
discussed the various domestic roles for the husband, wife, children, and
slave, and explain what is the duty of each one in their God-given role.
2.
In our study
today, we are going to look at verses 1 through 18 of chapter 4.
2.1.
Paul will
admonish masters about how to treat their slaves.
2.2.
Paul will
admonish the Colossians to be devoted to and alert in prayer, and also to pray
for him for an opportunity to preach the gospel and effectiveness when he does.
2.3.
Paul will
admonish the church to make the most of their opportunities with outsiders for
the hopes of winning souls to Christ.
2.4.
Paul will give
his final salutations and commendations.
3.
VS 4:1 - “1 Masters, grant to your slaves
justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.” – Paul tells those who are masters to treat their slaves with justice
and fairness
3.1.
This verse really
should have been contained within the previous chapter because it deals with
domestic roles and responsibilities.
3.2.
Paul doesn’t tell masters of slaves here to set them free.
3.3.
Paul simply tells masters to ‘grant’ those who are their slaves
‘justice and fairness’.
3.3.1. Wikipedia.org, the online dictionary, states the
following about slavery in the first century, “Some estimate that the slave population
in the First century constituted approximately one third of the total
population. An estimated one million slaves were owned by the richest five per
cent of Roman citizens. Most slaves were employed in domestic service in
households and likely had an easier life than slaves working the land, or in
mines or on ships. Slavery could be very cruel in the
3.3.2. In Paul’s day, slaves had no rights and were
considered mere possessions by their masters.
If it pleased them, Roman masters could beat a slave, rape a slave, and
even kill a slave. Paul’s admonition
here is to treat their slaves in a just and fair way, befitting the way a
Christian is supposed to act.
3.3.3. When you think about it, all of us as Christians are
slaves to our Master in heaven. Yet, how
is it that the Lord treats us? He doesn’t
abuse us, ask too much of us, beat us, etc.
His burden is easy and His yoke is light on our lives, for He says, “Come
to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt.
11:28). He is a loving Master, and fair
and just to each of us. The masters of
slaves on this earth ought to follow the example of their father in heaven.
3.3.4. Though slavery was permitted under the Old Testament
law, as well as the New Testament order, over the course of history since the
first century, Christians began to become more concerned about the inhumane
treatment of slaves. In the past few
hundred years, this resulted in Christians becoming a major forces for the
abolition of slavery movement that began to sweep not only our country but the
world.
3.4.
Paul again appeals to the Christian to treat others in the same way
that the Lord treats us as he reminds those who are masters of slaves, ‘you
too have a Master in heaven’. If a
man is a mater of a slave, and he abuses his slave, then he ought to consider the
fact that the Lord might just cause him to endure come of the dehumanizing
aspects of being a slave.
4.
VS 4:2-4 - “2 Devote yourselves to prayer,
keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God
will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery
of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to
speak.” – Paul instructs the Colossians to be devoted to and alert in prayer,
with an attitude of thanksgiving, and, as they pray to pray for him to have a
door for the word and clarity in his preaching of the word
4.1.
We as Christians need to be “devoted” to prayer. We should never think that we do not need
God’s hand and blessing on our lives, and thus we must approach everything
foremostly from a perspective of prayer and praying.
4.1.1. When the children of Israel
had committed many sins after making Saul their first king, they came to Samuel
asking for him to pray to them, and Samuel showed that he was a man who saw
devotedness to prayer as not being something that was optional for God’s
people: 1 Samuel 12:23, “23 “Moreover, as for me, far be it
from me that I should sin against the Lord
by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.”
4.1.2. Paul already told the Colossians that he and those
with him had continually prayed for them:
Colossians 1:9, “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of
it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled
with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
4.1.3. Paul told pastor Timothy
that he prayed for him day and night: 2 Timothy 1:3, “3 I thank God, whom I serve with a
clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my
prayers night and day.”
4.1.4. The author of this poem is unknown, but it is called,
“Into The Day”:
I got up early one morning
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
I didn’t have time to pray.
Troubles just tumbled about me
And heavier came each task.
Why doesn’t God help me, I wondered,
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”
I tried to come into God’s presence,
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
“Why child, you didn’t knock.”
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on grey and bleak,
I called on the Lord for the reason—
He said “You didn’t seek.”
I woke up early this morning
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.
4.1.5. Paul Lee Tan’s 7,700 illustrations has the following
about the power of the prayer life of David Brainerd:
David Brainerd was a man of great spiritual power. The
work which he accomplished by prayer was simply marvelous. Dr. A. J. Gordon, in
giving a sketch of Brainerd’s experience, said,
“In the depths of those forests, alone, unable to
speak the language of the Indians, he spent whole days literally in prayer. What
was he praying for? He knew that he could not reach those savages; he did not
understand their language. If he wanted to speak at all, he must find somebody
who could vaguely interpret his thought; therefore he knew that anything he
should do must be absolutely dependent upon the power of God.
“So he spent whole days in prayer, simply that the
power of the Holy Ghost might come upon him so unmistakably that these people
should not be able to stand before him. What was his answer? Once he preached
and the interpreter was so intoxicated that he could hardly stand up. That was
the best he could do. Yet scores were converted through that sermon. We can
account for it only by the tremendous power of God behind him.
4.1.6. John Knox (1505-1572),
was a Roman Catholic priest in
4.1.7. Paul Lee Tan quotes the Gospel Harold about the prayer
lives of these great men of God in history past: “John Wesley was wont to
spent at least two hours each day in prayer. Samuel Rutherford rose at three
o’clock each morning to wait upon God.
John Fletcher was said to have stained the walls of his chamber by the
breath of his prayers.’
4.2.
We as Christians also need to stay ‘alert’ always in our
praying, always being diligent to pray.
Needs for prayer arise all throughout our days and everywhere we
go. We need to be sure that when we are
made aware of a need that we immediately go to prayer. I think sometimes we are simply blind to the
needs that are around us. As a pastor, I
always want to pray with people about their needs and teach them to go to the
Lord in prayer. I think it is an error
for pastors to always give their counsel and yet not lead people to pray. Many times they can lead people to become
dependent upon them instead of the Lord because of doing this.
4.3.
Paul requests prayer for himself and those with him for the Lord to
open the door for the effective preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His desire is to see people come to
salvation, and thus he requests prayer for opportunity as well as efficiency in
his preaching.
4.4.
As we in the church here are beginning a new session of Evangelism
Explosion (EE), please remember to pray for those who are going through the
training that God will teach them a tremendous amount about sharing their
faith, and also that God will use us mightily as we go out to share the gospel
each week.
5.
VS 4:5-6 - “5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom
toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though
seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” – Paul tells the Colossians to conduct themselves with wisdom towards
outsiders and to take advantage of every opportunity to preach the gospel, as
they make sure that their speech is always with grace, seasoned with salt
5.1.
We as Christians need to always have ‘wisdom’ in our dealings
with people, especially those who do not know the Lord. We need to be wise in guarding how we appear
to others, the things we say to them, and in doing these things we need to
represent the Lord to people.
5.2.
Paul tells us here that there are always opportunities all around us as
Christians, opportunities afforded by the people we meet and the situations we
find ourselves in. We need to be the
kind of people who take advantage of those opportunities to the fullest so that
our lives can be a witness to those who are lost.
5.3.
We need to be prayed up and looking for opportunities to share the
gospel, carry gospel tracts perhaps, pocket Bible, whatever it is that we might
need. In Ephesians 5:16 we are told to always be, “16 making the most of your time,
because the days are evil.” Peter stated
this same thing differently here: 1 Peter 3:15, “15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in
your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks
you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and
reverence.”
5.4.
Our speech as Christians needs to be a reflection of our Lord also, and
it needs to be filled with ‘grace’.
Many times Christians though are constantly judging and condemning
others, and looking down their noses at others.
But, this is not the way to be a witness for Christ and influence people
to our Savior.
5.5.
Our speech as Christians also needs to be ‘seasoned with salt’. Jesus told His disciples that they were to be
the “salt of the world,” and this indicated that they were to be like a
preservative such as salt was used in Paul’s day. ‘Salt’ kept food from spoiling and our
speech and lives as believers is also meant to be influence people in this
world for Christ, and thereby keep them from corruption.
5.6.
Paul tells us here that we as Christians should also be careful to ‘respond
to each person’ in just the right manner.
Everyone is different, and it is important for us to recognize that fact
and approach everyone different. We need
prayer to know how each person needs to be approached, and we also must
recognize from the outset our own inabilities to reach them, in and of
ourselves. We need God’s leading, His
words, and much wisdom from God to respond to each one appropriately.
6.
VS 4:7-9 - “7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our
beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord,
will bring you information. 8
For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our
circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; 9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and
beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the
whole situation here.” – Paul tells the Colossians
that Tychicus will bring them information, being surely the courier of this
letter for the church, and also that Onesimus (one of their own members) would
accompany him, and, that they both would inform them about Paul’s entire
situation there where he was
6.1.
Tychicus and
Onesimus were traveling together to
6.2.
Onesimus was the slave whom Paul had admonished to return to his
master, Philemon, in the book of Philemon.
Onesimus was returning to the city carrying that personal letter from
Paul to be delivered to Philemon, his master.
6.3.
Paul tells the Colossians that Tychicus and Onesimus would inform the
brethren about his comings and goings, the state of the churches, etc.
7.
VS 4:10 - “10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner,
sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you
received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him);” – Paul tells the Colossians that Aristarchus sends them his greetings,
along with Barnabas’s cousin Mark, the one about whom they had received
instructions to welcome him
7.1.
‘Aristarchus’ was in prison with Paul at this time, possibly
jailed for preaching the gospel along with Paul, however some contend that he
had voluntarily had himself imprisoned with Paul so that he might be able to
minister to Paul. Paul sends greetings
to the Colossians from this man.
7.2.
‘Aristarchus’
is found in Acts chapters 19 and 20 where he is described as a traveling
companion of Paul’s, and the story is told that he was dragged to the theatre
in town after a mob uproar occurred because of the preaching of Paul. Then, in chapter 20, we see that this man was
again traveling with Paul. He was a
faithful man who traveled with Paul and often risked his life for the preaching
of the gospel, so that souls might be saved.
7.3.
This is also the second of Paul’s commendations of ‘Mark’ (see
also 2 Tim. 4:11 where Paul tells Timothy that Mark is a man who is useful for
service for him), the man about whom Paul and Barnabas in Acts chapter 15 had a
great dispute about taking on the second missionary journey of the book of
Acts. Paul and Barnabas eventually parted
ways and went in different directions at that time. However, we see that after that point in time
that Paul had reconciled with Barnabas and also recognized that Mark had indeed
proven himself to be a faithful brother.
7.4.
Many people criticize Paul, and Women’s Liber’s tend to hate him,
however the fact that he reconciled with both Barnabas and Mark and then even
commends Mark in the way that he does shows his heart and that the attitude
that many ascribe to him is not deserved.
7.5.
Mark wrote the gospel of Mark, so he has served as a valuable asset to
the church even to this very day.
8.
VS 4:11 - “11 and also Jesus who is
called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the
8.1.
That man is named
‘Jesus’ (or “Joshua”) had the same name as our Lord, and he was
also called ‘Justus’.
8.2.
Justus was a
converted Jew and one of several ‘from the circumcision’ (also Jewish
converts) that Paul greets here saying that these Jews ‘have proved to be an
encouragement’ to him.
9.
VS 4:12-13 - “12 Epaphras, who is one of your number,
a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly
for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the
will of God. 13 For I testify for him
that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in
9.1.
Epaphras was evidently the founder of the
9.2.
Paul tells the Colossians about how that Epaphras was ‘always
laboring earnestly for’ them in his ‘prayers’.
9.3.
The cities of
9.4.
It has been suggested that Epaphras may have in addition to the church
in
10.
VS 4:14 - “14 Luke, the beloved physician, sends
you his greetings, and also Demas.” –
Paul tells the Colossians that Luke sends them his greetings, and also Demas
10.1. Luke is the man who both
wrote the gospel by his name as well as the book of Acts. He traveled with Paul in his missionary
journeys recorded in the book of Acts, and thus was able to write the
Acts. He has been called “The
Christian Josephus” because he recorded the history of the early church and
recorded it in the book of Acts.
10.2. Demas is the only person
here about whom there is no commendation, and when we consider what Paul later
wrote to Timothy about this man it is not surprising: 2
Timothy 4:10, “10 for Demas, having loved this present world, has
deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to
11.
VS 4:15-17 - “15 Greet the brethren who are in
11.1. We saw in our first study
that the city of
11.2. It is significant that Paul
tells Archippus, evidently the pastor of the church in
12.
VS 4:18 - “18 I, Paul, write this greeting with
my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.” – Paul tells the Colossians that he has autographed this letter to
show its authenticity, then he ask them to remember his imprisonment, then in
closing confers God’s grace to be with them
13.
CONCLUSIONS:
13.1. Be devoted to and alert in prayer.
13.2. Make the most of the
opportunities you have with people to be a witness for Christ, and even share
the gospel.
13.3. In this book of Colossians
we have seen that Paul faced head on the heresy that Ephaphras had told him
about that existed within the church, the “Colossian Heresy.” This was the beginnings of Gnosticism, and
these false teachers were telling the people that you needed to go to God
through the medium of angels, that you should worship angels, that you could
get “special knowledge” through their teachers, that you could have
certain angelically inspired visions, that you needed to be circumcised and observe
various Jewish holidays and feasts and Sabbaths, and some were saying that you
should become an ascetic and having nothing to do with this world. But, we have seen that Paul point the church
to Christ saying that everything was created by Him and through Him and for
Him, that Christ was the head over all authority having triumphed on the cross
over all of the principalities in the heavenly realm, and that since Christ was
risen up as Lord and Master over all creation that the believer needed to not
look to these other ways to God but just keep seeking the things above where
Christ is seated, and they also are seated with Him. Paul taught them that in Christ are hidden
all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Paul pointed them to Christ and sought to show that to attempt to go to
God any other way would be to be severed from Christ and thus not be able to
get to God in any way.
13.4. Then, there were the
admonitions to avoid the sinful passions that drive the sinful people of this
world, as well as the sins that destroy fellowship and friendship, and that
they were to put on the heart of God in all of its many aspects.
13.5. Finally, they were to put on love which is the bond of
unity, and let the word of Christ richly dwell within them, as they work on fulfilling
their God-given roles and responsibilities that they have from God. And, they were to do all that they did in the
name of God, giving thanks to God through Christ.