Colossians 4:7-18
Isaiah 53:1-12
The Joy in suffering for the work of the gospel
Friends, if you are looking for some sort of worldly recognition in this life, then the work of the gospel is not for you.
If you are looking for some sort of status in this world, then the work of the gospel is not for you.
If you are looking for some sort of financial incentive, some sort of earthly reward, then the work of the gospel is not for you.
If you are looking to build your professional portfolio then the work of the gospel is not for you.
Just listen how the “great” apostle Paul was thought of by others, as he did the work of the gospel. And when I say gospel I mean spreading the good news that Jesus died for our sins, so that we could live.
This is from 1 Corinthians 4:9-13
Paul was writing to members of the church at Corinth.
Members who thought the Christian life was all about status, power, prestige and popularity of the world.
For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in Honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we Labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
Friends if you are ready to be considered “the scum of the world”, or the refuse of all things- a failure in this world- then you my friend are ready for the work of the gospel.
And as the tile of this sermon indicates to us today, I want to assure you, that there is joy to be found as you may be considered scum of the world, as you work for the gospel.
The world, those who don’t know Jesus, those who don’t believe in Jesus as their Lord and saviour will consider you foolish, will consider you weak, they may think you are crazy, they may think you just splatter lies and deceit, and some will even consider you the scum of the world…….and yet friends, and here is the great paradox of the message of Jesus, there is Joy, there is glory, there is fulfilment in that perceived “sum of the world” status, as you do the work of the gospel.
It doesn’t matter what the world may think of you: It matters what God thinks of you!
As the apostle Paul wrote the letter to the church in Colossae, he was a prisoner at the time of his writing- he was under house arrest in Rome, waiting his trial. He told us in verse 18 that he was in chains. And because Paul was a prisoner, we know, some of his so-called “friends”, who may have supported him at the start of his ministry when he was travelling the known world, suddenly, didn’t want anything to do with him.
It didn’t matter whether he was innocent or not, he was guilty by the fact he was a prisoner in Rome.
Paul was not a free man, he couldn’t wander and go where he pleased.
He may have literally been chained to a guard for most of his time.
Paul and his faithful friends were considered as “sum of the earth” to many…..even those who may have supported him at the start of his missionary journeys but later deserted him.
Paul’s friend, Aristarchus was a fellow prisoner, his friend Onesimus was a slave and both worked tirelessly for the gospel.
Paul’s friends did not have the freedom to wander and do as they pleased.
Paul, Aristarchus and Onesimus may have been considered scum in the eyes of the world and yet here is the glorious truth…… they still did the glorious work of the gospel and they did it with Joy, in whatever situation they were in, whether chained or not, whether free or not.
The apostle Paul, who worked tirelessly for the gospel knew what it was like for his own friends to abandon him. He knew what is was like to be beaten by those who thought him scum, he knew what it was like to be hungry, to be homeless, to be falsely accused and yet, even amongst all that persecution and all that suffering…. he knew what it was like to have Joy and peace, as he worked tirelessly for the gospel.
Not only did Paul work tirelessly for the gospel but his brothers and sisters did also.
People like Tychius who is mentioned in verse 7.
Look at verse 7-9 with me:
7 Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant[b] in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 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.
Tychius was a mail man.
He carried the letter that Paul wrote from his prison in Rome to the city of Colossae and Laodicea.
Being a mail man wasn’t the most attractive job, and yet it was a vital job. It probably wasn’t the most exciting job- it would have been a lot of walking, a lot of doing the same thing day after day, and yet Tychius did this.
Tychius was the man who delivered and read the letters the churches.
Tychius probably never received any Glory for his job- after all- it wasn’t his letters he was delivering, it wasn’t his words he was speaking, but it was the apostle Paul’s words, the apostle Paul’s letters- Tychius was just the humble mail man!
Tychius was working tirelessly for the gospel and yet he gained nothing worldly from it, as far as I am aware- there was no Tychius mail company set up- he just worked faithfully for Jesus and without Tychius- who knows…….. would we have the letters of Colossians and Ephesians today- two of the most Christ centred- Christ glorifying letters in the bible.
Tychius worked Tirelessly for the gospel and he gained no professional portfolio… he gained no personal glory, heck, he probably didn’t even gain any worldly comforts…..
Did Tychius even know, that these letters that he carried, that he delivered would be part the 66 inspired books of the bible? maybe/ may be not.
Was Tychius eager for the apostle Paul to mention his name in the letter?- Probably not.
Paul probably only mentioned his name, because he wanted his hearers to know that Tychius was sent with the authority of the apostle. He wanted to validate Tychius in the eyes of the church. He wanted the church to know that if they trusted the apostle Paul, they could also trust Tychius as Paul vouched for him.
Not only did Tychius work tirelessly for the gospel but so did the pastor Epaphras.
And what did Epaphras do?
Did he attend pastor conference after pastor conference? No
Did he write and sell his own books ? No
Did he zip line himself into his church and take all the accolades? No
Look at verse 12 with me:
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
Epaphras struggled or wrestled in prayer for his people.
Epaphras did the work that no-one saw, no-one critiqued, no-one praised, - he wrestled in prayer for his people.
Epaphras did something that sadly even some parts of the church don’t even value and appreciate today- he prayed.
And friends, he prayed hard and he prayed regularly.
Prayer can be hard work- we all know this….and perhaps one of the reasons why prayer can be such hard work, because as we pray, we subconsciously think that there are other, better things we can be doing. We can spend an hour in prayer and at the end of the hour, we have nothing to show for it. After 1 hour of prayer, there are no KPI’s that we can report upon- “look what I have done”……No, as we pray, we are relying for God to work on our behalf, so he gets all the glory he deserves.
If we spend an hour preparing a sermon, we would hope we would have something to show at the end of it- something we can boast in!
In the early church, the disciples set aside some people to take on mercy ministries so that they could specifically focus on the ministry of word and prayer.
The disciples took on the work of preaching the word, and praying.
As we pray, we are work tirelessly for the gospel.
Now the apostle Paul wasn’t all doom and gloom, yes, he mentioned suffering, he mentioned his chains that he was in, so the church could pray for him. He didn’t just want to get across to the church that the work of the gospel was hard and it required suffering, but he did also encouraged his brothers and sisters with their success,
And what was success in the eyes of the apostle Paul?
What is success in the eyes of God?
It was and still is: being faithful to Jesus.
Being faithful.
Tychius was commended for being a faithful minister, Onesimus was commended for being faithful, Epaphras was commended for being faithful.
In the church at Colossae, false teachers where trying to pull people away from Jesus…..
……..and as Paul has urged the church in Colossae to stick with Jesus, since all wisdom and eternal treasure is found in Christ, it is perhaps no co-incidence that Paul uses these men, Tychius, Onesimus and Epaphras, as examples of people who stuck with Jesus, who had been faithful.
Sadly, Paul mentions another individual who wasn’t successful, an individual who failed to be faithful, an individual who didn’t stick with Jesus and his name was Demas.
Look at verse 14 with me:
Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.
At the time when Paul wrote this letter to the church at Colossae, Demas appeared to be one of the faithful ones, he was hanging out with the great gospel writer and doctor- Luke.
And yet sadly we know that Demas didn’t stay faithful, he didn’t stick with Jesus.
Look at 2 Timothy 4: 9 with me:
For Demas in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
The lure and pleasure of this world was too much for Demas, he didn’t stick with Jesus, he was unsuccessful, he didn’t remain faithful. Perhaps the suffering of the work in the gospel wasn’t worth it for Demas.
We never heard of what happened to Demas.
Perhaps he was a success in this world, perhaps he was a successful business man, perhaps he was a successful family man- we don’t know, perhaps he had an impressive professional portfolio,…..we don’t know…..but we do know that in the end he wasn’t successful at all, because he wasn’t faithful to Jesus- faithful to the work of the gospel.
Friends, your success in this life doesn’t depend on how many people you lead to Jesus, it doesn’t depend on how many times you attend church, it doesn’t depend on what titles you may possess, but it all depends on whether you stick with Jesus and a sure barometer of your faithfulness to Jesus, is how much time you spend in prayer.
Jesus prayed a lot and he prayed regularly to his father.
The apostle Paul prayed a lot and regularly
Epaphras the pastor prayed a lot and regularly.
Friends, if we want to work for the gospel, we must be a people of prayer.
We must ask God to give us Joy in praying for the work of the gospel, because as we struggle and wrestle in prayer, we are acknowledging that the work of the gospel is all about God working in the hearts of his people. The more we spend time humbling ourselves before God, the more we know that all glory and honour is due to him, and the more we know that we don’t need the accolades of this world. The more we may rejoice in our “sum of the world” status.
Let us pray.
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