Paul's Ministry Team

Open your Bibles, if you would, to Colossians chapter four. I just want to thank all of you who put in time to lead us in worship through song, what a blessed time that is this morning. This morning, we're going to see Paul's ministry team. He is basically going to take a group photo for us and show us who he works with. But as we finish up Colossians this morning, we’ll be in Colossians 4:7-18, Lord willing. This letter is meant to be read to the whole church. You see that in Colossians 4:16. I'm not going to read the whole letter this morning but I do want to summarize it for you. I have done that with some of the shorter books, we've read the whole thing start to finish over the years. But I just want to summarize it for you so that you get its intended effect, the full effect of what Colossians brings to the table.

First, you need to know that the first two chapters are really a theology. It's a theology of Christ Jesus. That's how you could summarize the first two chapters of Colossians. And Paul is very specific in why he does this. He wants us to remember that our lives are not just to long for Christ, but they're built on Christ. Okay, your life is built on the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God. So, he gives us some of the most profound theology in all of Scripture here in Colossians.

Look in Colossians 1:1 with me. Flip, or scroll, or however you get there on your device. He's made every effort to tell us that it's about Christ. He says this, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.” Paul identifies himself as what, in this first verse, what does he identify himself as? As a messenger. He comes with someone else's message. That's every teacher of God's Word, that is every preacher of God's Word; we come with someone else's message. You see that in verse one, he's a messenger of Jesus, by the will of God. It is not by our will that we lead a church, or help shepherd a church, it is by the will of God.

He speaks of God's grace, and prayer, and God himself, right off the bat. So, you can think of this as God, grace, and prayer. He's going to conclude the letter of Colossians with God, grace, and prayer. And you'll see that today, it's very systematic, it's very well thought out. It's very planned, it’s inspired. He speaks of faith in Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:4. How the gospel has come to their ears in Colossians 1:6, and it's bearing fruit around the world. Sometimes you and I can think that we're just part of whatever's going on in our own house. Whatever is happening in our own sphere. But you and I are part of a global plan of redemption that God, himself, has set in motion. It is bigger than any one person. It is bigger than any group. And it is all about God, himself.

Now remember, Paul never met the Colossians, face to face. Paul was in prison. And we have what we call the prison epistles, where he writes to other people to encourage them, from prison. Paul is not a newbie on the Christian scene at this point, he's been in prison at other times, he's been shipwrecked. He's been beaten, all these things have already happened in Paul's life. And he is speaking to them about the most important thing, not his own needs, but their needs. And he's going to at the end, he's going to say “remember my chains” [Colossians 4:18]. He doesn't really say a whole lot more about his own condition than that. But he is so concerned about their faith and relationship with Christ Jesus. That he writes this inspired letter to them.

Colossians 1:13, he goes into theology. And I'm just going to take some snippets out of the first two chapters to tell you about the theology. Because it's not just knowing the name of Jesus, it's knowing who Jesus is. Colossians 1:13, “He [i.e. Jesus] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” God has taken us from darkness and put us in the kingdom of his Son. If you were looking for a cause for rejoicing today – if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and you have your sins confessed, your sins forgiven by his grace – then you have been transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and you should rejoice.

Chapters one and two have some of the most profound theology on the deity of Christ in all of Scripture. Look in Colossians 1:15, it says, “He is the image of the invisible God [i.e. Jesus Christ].” Colossians 1:19, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Colossians 2:9, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Try and wrap your mind around that. No one has ever seen God. In him the fullness of deity dwells, bodily. Jesus cannot be categorized as just some nice guy. He cannot be categorized as just a prophet who says things that, in modern vernacular, come to pass or don't. Of course, according to Deuteronomy 13, you should stone the one whose words from God don't come to pass. So that normally takes care of, in the Old Testament times, the false teachers. But Jesus is so much more.

And it's not just that he has done these things, and that we know him, and we understand what he's done. He's done these things for us. It's significant, when we consider the ministry that God has developed over time now through the church. And the people that we serve with, what he has done for us collectively, should bind us together and cause us to rejoice. Colossians 1:28, Paul summarizes his ministry for us. I know many of you have this memorized. “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom.” Not just for the sake of teaching, right? Why? So, “that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Christian, your job is to become mature in Christ, and Jesus is the way that happens through his Word. Stagnation is not a part of Christianity. There is always progress.

And Paul says in Colossians 1:29, “For this [our maturity, for this] I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Notice, the greatest thing Paul could ever accomplish is to give the gospel that their faith could be in Jesus. And Paul quickly says, “It's something Christ does in me. It's not about me.” So different than popular Christianity today, isn't it? Which tries to focus Christianity about you. What can you get out of it? How has God given you the latest blessing in your life? And as we saw this morning, God has been blessing those who call on his name for a very long time, and bless he does. But the point is not to be blessed by God, the point is to worship God as one of his children. Paul doesn't just want us, or the Colossians, to merely survive. Some of you are in that state. You feel like that's the state God has given you. “I just need to survive. I just need to get through the day, the week, the month, whatever, the year.” And that's per perpetually how you think. But that's not what he wants. He wants to present everyone mature in Christ.

So, that when we stand before Christ, we are not just babes. We are not just children. He wants us to thrive. Is that your mindset in Christianity, to thrive? Or is it just to survive? Colossians 2:13, Paul wants them to know that God made them alive in Christ. God did this work. It's not some grand mental assent, that now you have given God the permission to transform you. That it is all of his grace that God has done this work. As Ephesians says, while we were yet sinners. There is no more debt on our account. Whatever you've done, thought, or said this week. Whatever low that you have gone to. Whatever sin you are hiding – God sees, God knows, God cares. And according to Colossians 2:14, there is not a single ounce of debt on your account if you are a Christian.

That doesn't mean that we have what is called “free grace,” that we just use God's grace to continue in sin. Paul says, in Romans, by no means should we do that. But it's been nailed to the cross. That's significant. That's not just a Bible story. That is what happens in your heart, mind, soul. To give you the strength to live for Christ. So, you don't need to carry this gigantic burden around. We need to stop moping about last year, and how awful we've lived. And rejoice today that today we get to rejoice in Christ. Today, we get to live for his glory. So, he's trying to elevate their understanding. And remember, he's already said, the gospel is bearing fruit, and they have faith in Christ. And he's heard of this already. But he's trying to elevate their understanding. Because knowing him is the key to life.

He turns to what that life looks like in chapters three to four, we could summarize that as: living for Christ Jesus. So, theology in chapters one and two that is transformative. And the practical living, what does this look like? You say, how do you connect the two? Well, theology is for life. It's not just to write papers and get degrees, it's to transform us in our minds. Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things… above.” If we're so entangled with surviving: health, friends, family, job, children – (and I know you're starting to think about the checklist that's overwhelming you) – we forget that life is worship. Your life is worship to God. Everything you do, worship: friends, family, health, job. Do you have breath? You say, “Well, not as much as I used to.” Use it to worship God. Use it to bring glory to his Name.

He's trying to dial them in. Here's the theology now: set your minds on things above [Colossians 3:2]. That's what you should be focused on in life. Yes, your schedule may be grueling. Yes, your health may be constantly reminding you you're frail and looking forward to a glorified body. But if you have breath, use it for God to worship him, to remind others that they need to worship the Christ. Paul says in Colossians 3:3-4, “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Notice the surety of that. There is no losing salvation theology in Pauline literature. It does not exist. You will appear with him in glory. I know we long for that more at times than others, but your life should be… If somebody said, “what's his life about?” They should just say, “Jesus.” “What's her life about?” “Jesus Christ.” The students, “what are their lives about?” “Jesus.” Right? Your life is hidden. It's, we're in the back, Jesus is in the front. When life is truly tragic, and it is at times. When it is truly difficult at times. Set your mind on Jesus Christ. Set your mind on Christ.

So, Colossians 3:5-17 is the put off, put on section. If you're not familiar with that language, it's put off sin, put on righteousness. Put this off, put that on. It's like the whole idea of turning to Jesus, we turn from sin to Jesus. We put this off by his grace, and we put Jesus Christ and his life and sanctification on, by his grace. And you're going to see by the end of this letter, it's all about grace. After giving specific instruction to wives, husbands, fathers, servants (the modern-day workers), to the Masters – he goes back to what he started with: Prayer, God, and Grace. Prayer, God, and grace. Colossians 4:2 –
Prayer. Colossians 4:3 – God. Colossians 4:6 – Grace; Colossians 4:18 – Grace.

This is a brilliant letter. It's incredible! And it's crafted in a way so that we remember God, Grace, and Prayer from start to finish. So that we don't ever forget that every part of our life is a gift of God's grace. And you say, who can live this way? Who can do these things? And we say, “Well, Paul, well, I couldn't be like him.” Well, I'm sure you would agree you could be like him before he was saved, right? So then after he got God's grace, you can't live like he can? Of course you can. You're probably not writing Scripture. And if you are, please talk to one of the elders soon. You're probably not doing miracles. But we can live like Paul. And he's going to show us that ministry is not just about the person out front. It's bolstered by everyone. I think Paul wanted us to know this is just normal Christian living. This isn't super apostle living. This is normal Christian living. It's not just for those who write Scripture and do miracles. Which, the miracles, are very short portions of time. There are about three, 60-year periods, where we see miracles in Scripture. And then a couple other instances dotted in all of history.

This is the Christian life, all who call in the name of Jesus, is this letter. That's you. You don't get to get out of this. Just because well maybe you feel like you dug a bigger pothole than everybody else. Paul was murdering people in God's name. That's why he says over and over again, it's all of grace. He wants you to know that this is for everyone. And because he had never seen the Colossians face to face, he basically takes like this big group photo and tells us about who he ministers with. And he highlights about eight people. And I want us to meet some of Paul's companions in ministry. And God wants you to meet them too, that's why they're recorded in Scripture. And you're going to see yourself in some of these people here.

So, if you look in Colossians 4:7, you'll see the first two people we're going to meet: Tychicus and Onesimus. You’re looking for some good baby names, Tychicus, there you go. Tychicus, and I'm probably slaughtering that name – I should have heard some expert read it ahead of time – “will tell you all about my activities. He is…” And then he gives descriptions. He's going to describe these people that he works with. “He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.” Colossians 4:8-9, “I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.”

Man, I wish I had that conversation, “of everything,” we only get glimpses. You know, we think when we get to heaven, we just want to understand what's written, there's so much more that we are going to hear about. 10,000 stories about God at work in the lives of his people that aren't even recorded. We have an incredible future ahead of us to hear and rejoice in these things for all of eternity. So, this first guy, Tychicus, met Paul on his third missionary journey. We see that in Acts 20:4. He brought this letter to the Colossians. And most likely, he also brought the Letter to the Ephesians. We see that from 2 Timothy 4:2 about Ephesians. Paul used him in the same way to the Ephesian church. And he sent this man to them, with a letter. There's a lot to understand about the Ephesian letter, probably a circular letter, it could have been mentioned here later. Some think that the letter to the Ephesians was this letter he mentions here that Paul calls the letter to the Laodiceans. That it was meant to go to an area. And Paul here in this letter, as you know, mentions an area. Look it up, it's called the Lucius Valley. So, Paul used this man to send these important letters, I'm glad he didn't drop it on the way.

Ephesians 6:21. He's mentioned in Ephesians 6:21-22, telling them “So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. I have sent him to you (i.e. to the Ephesians) for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are, and that we may encourage your hearts.” So, this man was a messenger from Paul. He didn't carry his own message, he carried the message from Paul. Paul didn't have his own message, he carried it from God. Do you see how discipleship works? God, Paul, this man. Now the whole church. And now here we are, a few thousand years later. We think some of the things we are doing are insignificant. But God and his divine plan uses what we have done and significantly impacts other people in ways that we won't find out until eternity. There's no such thing as a Christian who isn't used by God. You may not have this giant stellar list that everyone is, you know, clawing at to see. Most of us don't. But the important thing is that you live for an audience of ONE: for the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether you're at home and you can't make it to church and you're praying. You can’t read Colossians without understanding how significant Paul thinks prayer is. Now don't stay home and just say, “I was praying,” come fellowship together. You can’t do the one-another's from your couch, be here as much as you can. But even when you're at home, or your health isn't there, pray, it's significant.

So, this man would bring a word from Paul, wherever he went. If we got a letter from Paul, it would be exciting. It would bring stability, it would bring clarity, and it would bring direction. So, this man and what he did was joyfully anticipated by the churches he was blessed to go to. And there are entire regions who had the Word of God brought to them because of him. So that's this brother here.

Colossians 4:9, Onesimus – you know this one – it says, “and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother.” Let that sink in. Of everything this man did and who he was, and what you understand from the book of Philemon. He was called and categorized, characterized if you would, by Paul as a faithful brother, and as a beloved brother. He is one of them. He is from the Colossians. They know this guy. They know him, and they know his master, who was also part of the church in Colossians. And they were fighting with each other. You ever have two people fighting with each other in the same church? Yeah, if you have a church, you have that. Right? That's this guy. Runaway slave in the book of Philemon, you can read all about him. Philemon was probably a leader in the Colossian church. Then [Onesimus] got saved, he ran into Paul, Paul's in prison. How's he running into Paul? I don't know. Paul's message was not stagnant in prison.

Sometimes we think, “Oh, if I, if I could just do this, then God could use my message.” Like the God who made the universe in six days, needs to give you something to get his message out. No, you use your breath. You speak God's Word. God uses his own Word to do his work and we are the beneficiaries of that. We don't have to wonder even what his message to Onesimus was, we learned that in Colossians 3:22-25. He tells him, “Whatever you do, work heartily as [unto] the Lord and not for men.” That's what he was telling the servants, the slaves, to do. Do your work as unto to the Lord, not to men. And I preached on this, and you can carry that with you every day to work. When you feel like you're being treated like a servant you have this verse to guide you. You should never wonder how to act at work, you should always know how to act at work. And we don't have to wonder what he told Philemon either, we see that in Colossians 4:1, [paraphrase] “Masters, treat them fairly.” Let alone everything he told Christians to do in chapter three. That is after all that.

We must ask ourselves this question: How can a runaway slave become a faithful, beloved brother? The same way any of us could be saved, through Jesus Christ. God is in the business of transforming lives. There is no one beyond his reach, we fall prey to that thinking, no one. You're not even beyond his reach! You think, “Well, I've plateaued. I've just, that's where I'm going to stay the rest of my Christian life. God can't do anything else with me, I'm so broken.” Well, he can take that cracked pot and fix it all up, wash it out, and make it a clean vessel for him. You just have to be willing.

So that was those two guys. Aristarchus and Mark are in verse 10. Colossians 4:10, “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions – if he comes to you, welcome him).” So Aristarchus, native of Thessalonica, met Paul in Ephesus. Acts 19:29 is where you find that. We don't know a ton about him. Mark, this is John Mark, the companion of Paul and Barnabas, cousin of Barnabas; met them on their first missionary journey, Acts 13:5. Then deserted Paul, and returned to Jerusalem. It's not like he said, “Hey, I'm worn out. I'm just, I'll meet you again later.” He left the work. He said, “I will go,” and then he is leaving. He deserted them and their work. And the implication here is that he also deserted God's work. Not just that he decided it was too much to handle but he is deserting the very work of God, which it seemed was evident God called him to.

But notice here, Paul has sent specific instructions to them: Welcome this guy. Welcome this guy. My dad was a pastor for over 40 years. And during this time people came and went, they come and go. You know, for good reasons, bad reasons, terrible reasons. Right, we're all here, none of us started here. And in the almost 11 years I've been here; we all are here for different reasons. He was very gracious to every single person who had left, for whatever reason. Some even started churches, a couple of miles away, and 15 years later said, “Hey, we should have never left.” They wanted a little bit more dynamic worship. You ever heard of that happening? And truly wonderful folks, just love them still to this day. But over the years, because of the way he let them save face on the way out, right? There's the reason people give, and then there's the real reason, right? If you ever lead or take part in that, you understand that. He let those people leave well, and years later, sometimes decades later, they would come back. “I should have never left.” “Well, glad you're here.” Right? It's like, who doesn't make bad decisions? And sometimes you need to leave a church. If they deviate from theology, if they just have pep talks. They're not explaining Scripture, you're not at a church, you're at a club, right? If they're not about worshiping Jesus, but about just trying to have the biggest show, you need to leave.

And you need to stay for the right reasons too. Stay because of the worship of Jesus, stay because of the preaching that happens from God's Word. As the Word is dispensed, if that's the main focus of the church, and you leave for another reason – well now that reason has become at least on par with what the focus of the church is. And there's exceptions to all these types of things, that's not your “Get Out of Jail Free” card. But what I want you to know is that Paul demonstrates forgiveness. And he calls the whole church, whom he's never met, to demonstrate forgiveness.

This is the same Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark. The first gospel penned, chronologically. This Mark was a companion most likely of Peter, as well. We see that from 1 Peter 5:13. And a lot of the phraseology that you see in the Gospel of Mark, you see in Peter’s writings as well. Mark is being discipled by Peter. And then he shows up and he's now later a companion and restored to Paul, and Paul's mentioning him here, “Welcome this guy.” Elsewhere, “he's useful to me in ministry.” You see, we sometimes believe the lie that, “Well, I blew it. So, God must be done with me. Because I did actually fail, I did actually make bad decisions. And, well, maybe I can just, you know, sweep at the church or something later. Maybe I can do something that no one knows about. I don't have to interact with anyone. I'm just, God can't change my character. I mean, he could build the universe, but he can't change me. I am a bigger problem then God knows about.”

And we walk around with this idea of like, God can't use us for his glory. And really all we are is, we are perfectly set up for God to use us for his glory. We have finally come to the place that it's not about us. That yes, you are actually worse than you think, totally depraved. Now, you understand that. That's just where God wants us so that he can use us so we're not prideful. So that when God does something through us, we don't say, “Man, aren't I wonderful?” He wants us to point everyone to him. So, he's about restoring people and using people for his glory.

You know, it's just the same way, if you say, “Oh, I got burned by a church,” and then if you ever get burned by a church – and if you've ever been in ministry for more than five years you probably have. Which just means somebody hurts your feelings or somebody did something mean to you. Right? It happens. So, then we collectively, throw all the tens of thousands of churches around the globe, under the bus. And we think, our mantra is: “I'm just happy to be here. And you should be happy I'm here because I got burned from a church.” Like, stop crying. Like, seriously, have you ever read what happened to Paul? And somebody said something not nice to you? Grow up. People are dying and going to hell! And we're walking around with our tail between our legs. God says, “I can do anything through you. In your area of influence, in your sphere, I can use you because it's not about you.”

Revelation, by the way, (chapters 1 to 3) is about God restoring churches who are on the verge of going the wrong direction. He realizes that. The church in Ephesus will later be named as, “Hey, you've left your first love,” right? I think I connected those two points. God is not done with us as long as we're breathing. Church, God is not done with you as long as you're breathing. Praise God for his visible work. You're at a restored church this morning. Right? Almost dead, on life support. Not enough money to pay for anybody. Not a sustainable group or leadership. And people say, “Well, what did you do?” It’s like, “I don't know. I just preached the gospel and taught the Bible.” And a lot of times, God still will allow a church to go out, when that happens. It's not about some magical plan that I've had or the elders have had. It's about God and his work among his people. Because you want the gospel preached, you want the Bible taught, you want to learn, you want to grow. And we can see God's continued plan here. Praise God, that God is not done with us. So that's Mark.

Then there's this guy, “Jesus who is called Justus,” Colossians 4:11. “and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.” He's a Gentile, but we don't really know anything else about him. Isn’t that the way it goes? He's mentioned in Scripture for all of eternity. But that's all we know, is his name and he worked with Paul. He served, he was probably under threat by soldiers and threats of mobs. If he's anywhere near Paul, he’s not on the nice list. He's on the naughty list, right? And no one knows him. And I think that's how he would want it. No one knows him. “That Christ may be known” is the mantra. That's this man, “Jesus who is called Justus,” in verse 11.

Then there is Epaphras, Colossians 4:12-13, “who is one of you,” they knew him very well, “a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may [do what?] stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.” Now who doesn't want that? We want the one without the other sometimes, but here this Epaphras wants both for all of them. To be mature in Christ and also to be assured in all the will of God. That sounds like a stable Christian life, no matter what's going on. Amen? He is what we might call “a prayer warrior.” He traveled to warn, to tell Paul about these other churches that were facing certain heresies all throughout the valley, including Laodicea and Hierapolis. We see that in Colossians 4:13. And so, he prays constantly struggling for them in his prayers. You see, the secret is, is that no matter where you are, no matter who you are, you can always use the secret weapon. That's prayer. You can always use that, to bring about God's will in your life and to defeat those who come against God's will. That is what this man Epaphras was all about. He worked hard for them it says. He “worked hard” at verse 13. “I bear witness, he's worked hard.” It takes diligence, and consistency. And just this attitude that we're not going to quit, we're not going to give up. If you’ve felt like giving up, if you’ve felt like quitting, work hard in prayer, start there. Let God use that to revitalize your heart and your mind to give you energy.

Paul says [paraphrase of Colossians 1:29], “It's with this, all of these things that Christ has given me, I toil and struggle with all the energy that he provides.” There is a sense that God does provide you with the energy you need to do what God has called you to do. But sometimes we feel more like, you know, a deflated basketball. Like, “I know I'm supposed to bounce back but here I sit,” right? And we need to pray and ask God to infuse us with his power and his glory. Not so that we can do something weird and go viral. But so that we can simply serve Christ. This is the heart of a pastor here, the heart of a pastor. he was probably, according to Colossians 1:7, their pastor, Epaphras. He spent time every day praying. Most likely, multiple times a day, praying for their needs. He knows them. He loves them. He's willing to use both sides of the shepherd's staff. The gentle “come this way side” and “the whack,” you know, “side.” When guys see each other, we use the non-gentle side most of the time. And then when we're around our wives were like, “Oh yeah, I need to flip the staff around,” the soft side, right? And we have to be gentle, and kind, and compassionate. I think I greeted one of the men this morning with a punch on the shoulder. I didn't even say anything. Right. That's how we that's how we communicate to each other. It's like, “How's it going?” in guy talk, you know.

We can become complacent, though. Not working hard. “It's legalism, if you have to work hard.” No, it's normal if you have to work hard, normal. Remember this is the normal Christian life. Paul said that Christ has purchased the sheep with his own blood in Acts 20:28. We should never think that God takes us being here lightly. You are significant enough for him to shed his blood for you to be here. Praise God. So, when you see the elders being gentle and using the Word to correct, it is for your benefit. It is out of love. We do the same with each other in the elders’ meetings. We look at each other and we go, “Why would we ever do that?” And we correct each other. And we fail at times. And we need to show each other the way with God's Word. But what you see here is just a demonstration of this collective group of people who are servants of Christ. Paul's the main guy. And you're going to see here in a minute just how significant that is. But Paul's the main guy, but there's this whole group of people working to bring glory to God.

The elders and Pastor Nick, we can't be in the same places as you can. It’s much more effective, wherever you are, and wherever you live, for you to be a light there. Then just to say, “Oh, wait a minute, let me call my pastor. Here, talk to him.” Like, “Who's that guy?” They don't know me, they don't know them. But they know you and they want to know the Jesus that impacts you. Wherever you are, whatever state you live in.

And then we see this guy, Luke. And as I see, I'm going to have to speed up a little bit. Luke is here in Colossians 4:14. He is “the beloved physician.” If you ever wonder where we get that from, it's right here. He “greets you, as does Demas. [15] Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.” Luke was a Gentile believer, he was a physician who attended the Paul's physical needs. And he was a spiritual giant, a theological giant, who wrote most of the New Testament! Did you get that? Luke wrote most of the New Testament, by word count. Paul wrote 13 books, little itty-bitty ones, most of them. Some significant and bigger. Packed with theology, right? Ephesians, the first couple chapters of Ephesians, has some of the most beautiful spiritual blessings we have in Scripture. Romans, the magnum opus on salvation.

But Luke wrote Luke and Acts, and together that is more of the New Testament than Paul wrote. In fact, if you're a numbers nerd like I am, Luke wrote 27.5% of the New Testament. That's roughly 38,000 words. Paul wrote 23.5%, roughly 32,000 words. Yes, I have the exact count, if you want them later. John is the other one who wrote 20% of the New Testament, roughly 28,000 words. To put this in more mind-numbing statistics. Luke wrote about 4%, more of the New Testament than Paul. And Paul only wrote about 3% more of the New Testament than John. And yet, who do we talk about? Paul. You want to know who used Paul's name more than any other person? Who would you guess? Luke. I know, I make these really difficult. Yes, it's Luke. Yeah, Luke. And we see most of those in the book of Acts. Luke writes about Paul's life and Peter's life. How many times is Luke mentioned in Scripture? Come on, Bible nerds, I know you know this. Three times in all of Scripture. You can get an extra donut if you already knew that. And just because we're on this statistic thing, who wrote most of the Old Testament? Moses. Which, by the way, means he wrote 1/5 of the entire Bible. Moses did. But who do we talk about? Paul. Moses wrote about 125,000 words. First five books and Psalm 90. Ezra wrote the next, and then Jeremiah. So, while Luke wrote 38,000 plus words, his name is only in there three times.

Do you see what a servant does? He's in the back. Everybody else is out in front. Luke is a theological asset to Paul and to you and me. He is an immense physical support to Paul. And a consistent, diligent friend who is called, “beloved,” from the word agapao, beloved. He's not the only beloved. Epaphras is “beloved” in Colossians 1:7. Jesus is the “beloved Son” of God in Colossians 1:13. Tychicus, our favorite guy, is “beloved” in Colossians 4:7. Onesimus is “beloved” in Colossians 4:9. And all believers are said to be “beloved” in Colossians 3:12. In fact, “beloved,” is a familiar term used 30 times by Paul in his writings. And he just mentions these eight people.

Love characterizes Paul, not just in loving Jesus, but loving those whom he serves. What a blessing to serve with people that you love. He loved his team when they were with him. And when he's in another city, he loved them too. He sent Timothy, to a couple different cities. So that love transcends immediate presence. Right? It is a beautiful, beautiful picture of what it means to serve Christ. And I want to ask you, who is beloved in your life? Jesus should come to mind first. Spouses, children. But notice, Paul here mentions the people he served with, all of these people. He only mentions Paul and Timothy to start. But he just gives them this big group photo because they need to know that the work of the Lord is done as a team.

And then there's Demas. The guy who fell in love with the world and left and never came back. Here we see Demas as a beloved brother. But in 2 Timothy 4:10 it says, “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” Paul had his fair share of deserters. Mark, they welcome back, and he doesn't even know Demas is going to leave them yet at this point. He's mentioned in this huge group. Right? Jesus had his Judas, Paul had his Demas. We want to be more like Luke, who serve the Lord faithfully, wherever we are, in whatever God has called us to. We want to be used by him, humbly and faithfully and diligently. Knowing that it is a collective work of the Lord to see what God has done.

And as Paul finishes up here in Colossians 4:15-18, he says this,

Colossians 4:15–18 (ESV)
15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. [We don't have a book of the Laodiceans. True, might be the book of Ephesians.] 17 And say to Archippus [another good baby name], “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

This is discipleship right here, verses 15 to 18. Did that stick out to you as I read it? This is discipleship. Paul greets them but then he says, “and greet these others.” He's teaching them how to treat other Christians. As he finishes this incredible letter. He said this letter is going to be read at your church, but also read it at these other churches too. Right. It's not just about us and our church, we can do that. We love our church so much that we think we're the only ones with a good church. As Paul fulfills his ministry, from prison, he says, you know, to Archippus “encourage this guy to fulfill his ministry.” That's discipleship. Go and make disciples. Paul is all about that. And you can see it. It just saturates the New Testament. And then he gives them something all believers find amazing grace in. It is the grace of God. “Grace to you,” the most common opening of Paul's letters. And his ending, “grace be with you.” Very common in all of his letters.

It's the most common bond we share: God's grace. No one is more significant than the other, we’re just given different roles. Just like the Trinity, different roles, not more significant. And so, he focuses them on Grace. God, grace and prayer as he ends this letter. Why is that? Because he knows we were all rebels to his will. Like the song says, “Christ looked on our helpless state and led us to the cross.” That's what Paul is doing. “We were once enemies and now we're seated at his table.” The blood of Jesus has taken away my sin. Has the blood of Jesus taken away your sin? Does that give you cause for rejoicing? “Now all we know is grace” and “all we have is Christ.” And we were just like the kids who play in the mud and splashing mud on each other. Enjoying it like this is the pinnacle of life. And God took us out of the mud, and cleansed us, and opened our eyes, and opened our hearts, and made us new, and made us useful. And we owe everything to Christ. Washed with the Word. Sins nailed to the cross. Jesus made us, gave us gifts, gave us himself to follow. We worship Christ. We're going to live for all of eternity with Jesus. Jesus Christ is our all in all. Truly we have amazing grace.

Dearly beloved, May the grace of God be with you. Let's pray.

What a beautiful ending, Lord, you have given us to this book of Colossians that Paul penned in prison. With so many people who loved and served your name. What a privilege it is to serve. What a joy it is to serve. Up front or in the back. Adults or children. Prayer warriors at home or praying individually throughout the week with people, face to face.

Help us Lord not to shrink back from the things that get us down or the things, the sins, that we have committed. But help us to be forgiven and to confess our sins to one another.

Lord God, you have blessed us. You have revitalized us, you have rejuvenated us, you have shown us the glory and the hope of the future in Christ. That he is going to return and that we will be with him in glory. Lord, may we rejoice in all of these blessings and these things that you have given to us and this true and real hope of forgiveness that you have lavished upon us, as Ephesians says.

Let's just take a moment right now to rejoice in the amazing grace that we have.

Father, what a privilege it is to be known by you and what a joy it is to praise you. We thank you for all these things. In your blessed, holy Name, Amen.