Last week we talked about how our mission statement, which states, “To present men complete in Christ, being empowered by His Spirit and sustained by His grace, in order that God may be glorified above all things” works together with our vision of being a channel through which God will send people and advance His kingdom.
And in looking at this topic last week, we really just got started. We were able to see first of all why our mission statement is worded the way it is by looking at this first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Then we were able to see why we use the word “complete.” We said that it is good because Scripture uses it and because salvation is a process that expands over one’s life and that by using the word “complete” it allows us to focus on the individual reaching his or her full potential in Christ. Instead of simply making converts, it forces us to think in terms of making disciples.
Then, we said that this was what we needed to have as our mission, making true disciples, if we were going to be able to function as a channel to send out others. The main reason being that the work of ministry cannot be performed unless the saints are first equipped.
Finally, I said at the end of the message last week that we would look in this chapter again this week to see in more detail what exactly it is that we are supposed to be doing in order to equip disciples for ministry.
I want to tackle this question in a very practical way. First, remember that our purpose and Paul’s purpose is the same (verse 28). Then verse 29 tells us that he was striving and laboring for that purpose. “And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” Therefore, if Paul has the same purpose and is striving and laboring to attain to that purpose, then we should simply see what he was doing and imitate him. And thus we will do.
But Paul mentions something first that had already occurred with the Colossians, not directly involving him, and we want to look at it as well. It is mentioned in verses 5-7. “Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant of Christ on our behalf.”
Before Paul wrote to these Colossian believers, something had already taken place. A man who was a fellow worker with Paul, named Epaphras, had already shared the gospel with them and they had believed.
If we are to see men be equipped for ministry and headed toward completion in Christ, then the first step needs to be that we are taking the gospel to men. And note, I said taking the gospel to men. I know I’ve made a point of this before, but the Scripture never commands us to make our goal to bring lost men to the church. Rather, it tells us to take the gospel to them. This is a lot more difficult isn’t it? But I believe it to be the biblical approach.
We’re not to bring the world in, we are to go and be in the world. We are to go be around sinners, drunkards, people who are sexually immoral, etc. in order to take the gospel to them. Luther has said, “The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies.” In the great commission Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”
I find it odd that we have come up with the idea that we are to get a wolf in the midst of the sheep and maybe the individual will be influenced or overpowered with the effect of the others. Christ told the disciples in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” He is wanting us to go out to them.
But as I said before, this is more difficult than inviting someone to church to hear the preacher, isn’t it? It requires that all of us understand the gospel and are willing to be Christ’s witnesses in the world.
I heard Paige Patterson say that every day he prays, “God give me someone today with whom I may share Christ.” And he will testify that God has been faithful to do just that.
Just the other day as I was jotting down that note about Paige Patterson I stopped and prayed that myself. I am not a bold person who loves confrontation, but my heart was longing for Christ’s kingdom to be advanced. Just as I finished praying that, the phone rang. It was a man named Donald. He was asking if I had any work for him to do so he could earn a little money.
I went to meet him in front of Jackson General Hospital. It wasn’t long before I was driving him back to my apartment and I was opening up the Scriptures with him to share the gospel. And do you know what he said to me, he said that he could make a confession right now with his mouth but he wasn’t sure that it would be genuine in his heart. Therefore, he asked me to type out the message and the Scriptures that I had shared with him so he could look over them some more.
What he was saying is that he wanted to count the cost. That is just what Jesus encouraged all those to do who were faced with the decision to follow Him. Donald said that he wanted to get together over coffee or something and talk more about the gospel. All of the sudden not only did God give me someone to whom I could teach the gospel on Thursday, but He gave me someone with whom I can share the gospel many days.
I believe God wants to do those kinds of things. You may say, “Now it never happens that easy for me.” Well maybe we need to start praying more for such opportunities. Have you done that? The Scripture tells us that as we sow we will reap a harvest. Let’s start sowing prayers for opportunities to teach the gospel and I believe God will allow us to see a harvest in due time. (And, by the way, pray for Donald.)
What Epaphras did in taking the gospel to the Colossians was a necessary step for Paul to do his work. And it was something that God did through individuals for all of us. So, we are to take the gospel to men.
But then what? Remember that salvation and completion in Christ is a life-long process. Our work is never finished in equipping saints toward completion. Paul shows this because he did not write and say, “So, therefore, because of Epaphras, you are fine and I thank God for that. Now I will be doing other things.” No, he was laboring for them. How?
First, Paul says that he was praying for them. Look at verse 3 and verse 9. “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” … “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you.”
Paul continued to pray for these believers. One way in which he was laboring and striving for them was in prayer. We can say words like “laboring” and “striving” in relation to prayer because it is hard and it is a battle. Ask the parents who have labored sleepless nights in prayer for their children, and they will understand why Paul can say it is labor.
And according to verses 9-12 (see verses), we are to be praying that the saints
- will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will
- will gain spiritual wisdom and understanding
- will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (in all purity)
- will please the Lord in all respects (walking by faith—Hebrews 11:6)
- and will bear fruit in their pursuit of knowing God.
I believe this part of equipping and discipling is probably the greatest part in an individual’s growth in the faith. I believe this because an individual needs God’s mercy and grace to grow, and Scripture spells out prayer as that which is the channel through which mercy and grace flow. Therefore, Paul, though doing other things as well, was praying constantly.
To those of you who feel that your calling and gifting is in the area of prayer, you are to be laboring in prayer for everyone of God’s sheep whom he brings here. And I know that many of you do. But this is also something that we are all commanded to do. Pray for all the saints.
Next, we are to teach the believers to obey everything that Christ has commanded. Such is in Matthew 28:19-20, but it is also reflected in Paul’s life.
In verses 25 and 28 he writes, “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might carry out the preaching of the word of God … And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
Paul directly says that he was called to them that he might preach or teach the word of God. And He also sees teaching as directly leading to one becoming complete in Christ, writing, “teaching every man … that (cause and effect) we may present every man complete in Christ.”
And, therefore, we have that responsibility as well. Now I agree with many people right now who are thinking, “Buddy, I’m not supposed to be preaching in the service.” I am not saying that. But what I am saying is that I am not sufficient to disciple individuals through teaching on my own. If there happens to be twenty new converts come in who do not know anything about the Scriptures, then they are going to need some time and attention from men to teach them. We need to realize that.
One of the purposes for teaching on Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights, and in Sunday School is that it enables us to teach others. We do not simply take in teaching to understand, we take in teaching in order to teach others.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Paul was teaching Timothy so he could teach others, so they could teach others. And that is exactly what Christ did with His disciples as he modeled for us how to do discipleship. Also, the author of Hebrews writes in a chastising manner, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (Hebrews 5:12).
I wonder how many of us today could receive that same rebuking? I would wager that many of us received teaching and discipling from a believer at some point in our Christian walk, and I would ask you, how many of us are discipling people ourselves? (If you would like to but don’t think anyone is looking for such a thing, then ask me and I’m sure I could point you to someone.)
One way men are equipped for ministry and are headed toward completion/maturity in the Christian faith is by teaching. Do not neglect the gift that is in you. Maybe many of us need to rekindle that gift with which God has blessed us to equip believers.
Yet another thing we are to do is to admonish, exhort, or encourage one another. I believe God has called us to labor in this task as well. Look at verse 28.
This is needed in the life of all believers. Barnabas was known as an encourager and exhorter. And do you remember who was the one who was able to bring Paul in to do his work among the frightened disciples? It was Barnabas (Acts 9:26-27).
In fact, many of the letters Paul and others wrote in Scripture were written for exhortation and encouragement. I said this last week, but encouragement has been used by God often in aiding me in my endurance.
I would ask all of us to seek how we may encourage the saints. Maybe we need to write letters, make phone calls, or simply chat. But encouragement and exhortation was something Paul understood as a need for his purpose to be accomplished in the lives of believers.
Finally, let me point out something about all these things. They will involve suffering, and yet it will be blessed suffering because of what it is accomplishing.
Paul writes in verse 24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”
I want to address this verse more directly, but first, let me point out how suffering will occur. Suffering occurs when an individual goes into the midst of a group of people, shares the gospel, and gets beaten. But that is not the only time suffering will occur. Suffering can and will happen, on at least a small scale, for all of us if we are truly pursuing this mission and vision.
We will make choices to devote precious time to teaching new believers. We will devote time to studying God’s Word instead of doing other things. We will rise early in prayer when we could be sleeping. But in all this, we can rejoice like Paul because we know that it is working toward our purpose of presenting men complete and glorifying God, by “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”
And let me explain what I believe Paul means by such a phrase “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” For, it is not as if we are suffering more because Christ didn’t do enough. On the cross he cried, “It is finished.” Therefore, how can anything be lacking?
What is lacking is reflected in a similar phrase in Philippians when Paul writes of a man named Epaphroditus. He writes, “Therefore receive him in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete (or to fill up) what was deficient (or lacking) in your service to me” (Phil. 2:29-30)
What had happened is that Paul was in prison, and the Church at Philippi was sending him what he needed (perhaps food, money, paper, etc.). And, therefore, Epaphroditus takes what the church had and gives it personally to Paul (endangering his life in the process). And in doing so, Paul says that he was able to complete what was deficient, much like fill up what is lacking. But what did he mean by this?
A commentator named Marvin Vincent explains it. He writes, “The gift to Paul was a gift of the church as a body. It was a sacrificial offering of love. What was lacking, and what would have been grateful to Paul and to the church alike, was the church’s presentation of this offering in person. This was impossible, and Paul represents Epaphroditus as supplying this lack by his affectionate and zealous ministry” (I.C.C., Epistle to the Philippians and to Philemon, p. 78).
And I think this is the idea mentioned in Colossians as well. What is lacking in Christ’s afflictions is a personal presentation to men. He has suffered for them, but they cannot see it. However, we have the opportunity to present His suffering to them every time we sacrifice other pleasures to aid in their equipping. In doing so, we show them exactly what Christ would do for them. It is as if we are getting to be Christ right in front of them—and we are, for we are His body.
Christ prayed, taught, admonished, and brought the gospel to us in much suffering in order that we might be complete in Him. May we, therefore, fill up what is lacking in His sufferings by presenting these things to men. May we labor in taking the gospel into the world, in prayer, in encouragement and exhortation, and in teaching them to obey all that He has commanded. May we disciple and equip by imitating, and showing them, our Lord.