Colossians 1:24-29 "Paul's Ministry Philosophy" - Jimmy Alexander

So yesterday I had to work, which isn't very typical.

I don't work on Saturdays.

And so I worked a half day, and it was about one o'clock, and I had a bunch of things I had to do at the house, a bunch of things that I wanted to do to help Molly.

But when I got off work, man, the Holy Spirit was just really like just kind of pressing me to go to the coffee shop and finish your sermon.

And I was like, well, it doesn't make sense because my sermon's not until next Sunday.

So I did it.

I went there and I finished it up and finalized it.

And got home, went to bed, woke up by a text from Rick this morning at like 4 a.m.

saying, hey man, you uh you gotta preach today.

And so I said, well, God provides.

So uh so give me a little bit of grace.

But uh turn with me, if you will, to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And today we will be looking at verses 24 through 29.

So it's Colossians chapter 1, verses 24 through 29, which is all about ministry.

Colossians 1:24–29

Or as MacArthur puts it, this is Paul's philosophy of ministry.

So in our last study, in verses 15 through 23, Paul established the true nature of Jesus Christ.

He is God, he is the creator, he is above all, in all, through all.

Jesus holds the universe in his hand.

He is head over the church, he is sovereign over salvation, and he is first in everything.

As Abraham Kuyper once said, there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry out, mine.

So in a world filled with heresy, in a society that is so hellbent on trying to redefine Christ, Paul brings us back to the nature of Jesus Christ.

Our whole life overflows from what we believe about Jesus.

We must get this right.

It's our foundation.

But now in our passage this morning, Paul transitions to explain his personal ministry.

And he does this for three reasons.

First, he does this to let the Colossians know that he's okay.

They were concerned about him, wondering how he was doing.

And so he writes this to console them.

Secondly, he does this to show them what real life ministry should look like.

And lastly, he does this to combat the false teachers who were accusing him of being lazy, deceptive, and they were saying he was in jail because God was punishing him.

And so they didn't just attack Paul's gospel.

If you read Corinthians or Thessalonians, they attacked Paul's character, his motives, and his ministry.

And so today, Paul is going to show us what Christian ministry should look like.

What kind of attitude should we have?

What should be our emphasis?

What should ministry entail?

And there is a lot of Christian literature out there, endless books and podcasts on how to have an effective ministry.

And it can get confusing.

There are hundreds of ministry methods and models, and a lot of them are helpful, but some of them are hurtful.

So today, Paul reveals to us his philosophy of ministry in four main categories.

One, his ministry attitude, joyful, selfless suffering.

Secondly, his ministry emphasis, making God's word known.

And thirdly, his ministry goal, maturing the church.

And lastly, his ministry means laboring with God's strength.

And so Paul's philosophy of ministry is refreshingly, at least for me, straightforward.

So the first thing that Paul tells us, starting in verse 24, is that his ministry involves joyful, selfless suffering.

He says, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church.

Now this is astonishing if you consider Paul's life, because before his conversion, he was an anti-Christian missionary.

He had the authority to go and imprison Christians, to help the assist in their death.

But one day, as he walked down the road of Damascus with the intent to persecute the Christian faith, Jesus Christ intervened.

A voice from heaven said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And God transformed him in this moment and commissioned him and said, I will show you, Paul, how much you must suffer for my name's sake.

So he went from trying to aggressively kill Christians in hatred to now laying down his life for Christians in joy.

He went from saying, I want you dead, to saying, I will die for you.

What a work of God's grace in Paul's life.

Who can explain that?

That it only comes from the transforming power of God's abundant life.

And so Paul wants the Colossians to know that he isn't miserable.

He isn't sitting in a Roman jail cell begging for his life in hopeless despair.

He certainly isn't outside of God's will, undergoing some measure of divine judgment.

No, no, no.

He is rejoicing in his suffering on their behalf, like Peter and John in Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

He is rejoicing that he is counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake.

Paul is doing what Jesus taught in Matthew 5.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

So principle number one is this Christian ministry involves suffering.

This should be the first thing that they teach in any kind of ministry class.

This idea that ministry is a comfortable cakewalk in a teletubby land, it's a lie.

Ministry is hard, and rightly so, because what you are signing up for is war.

War against the devil, war against the kingdom of darkness and demons, war against the hostile flesh of men who hate God, there will be a target on your back.

If the world killed Christ because of his ministry, what do you think they will do to you?

What's the expectation?

And so suffering isn't an option in the Christian life.

If you are a child of God with any degree of ministry, not just vocational, you will face some level of affliction.

And now we need to be careful here because some suffering is sin-caused or self-inflicted.

And I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about suffering that comes from active ministry.

Some Christians, if I'm being honest, they're just jerks, and anytime anyone opposes them, they call it persecution.

I'm not talking about that.

I am talking about the emotional, the mental, and sometimes physical suffering that comes from faithful evangelism and discipleship and Christian service.

So this is the way God has designed it.

He allows persecution and adversity.

Nehemiah taught us that.

So Paul, in essence, is saying, I have not yet fulfilled my calling.

There is still suffering that I must face, and there is still work that God wants to do in me to make me more like my Savior.

So he isn't talking about the atonement here.

Some people misinterpret this.

Paul isn't saying he needed to add to Christ's work.

He is saying that there is still afflictions that he needs to suffer in his calling so that he would walk more in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

And it is all for what?

For the church, says Paul.

This is what ministry is all about.

It's about edifying the body of Christ.

That's worth suffering for.

Okay, many people suffer for horrible reasons.

They suffer because they're a criminal, they suffer because they've destroyed their bodies, they suffer because of selfish choices.

But Paul suffers for an eternal matter, the matter of souls.

This is why Paul can consider it a pure joy when he faces trials of many kinds.

This is why he can sit in a dark, cold Roman jail cell, because he is suffering for the sake of the church, fully believing that God will use his suffering to make him more like Christ.

So this church should give us comfort in our ministry.

Whatever ministry you're involved in, whether it's a men's group, uh sharing Christ with your coworkers, discipling your kids, and trust me, there's afflictions there.

I got headbutted the other day when I was trying to tell Judah about Jesus.

But people won't listen.

They'll let you down.

You'll get made fun of.

You get accused of things that aren't true.

And what's our natural response?

Well, to be upset, discouraged, frustrated.

That's why the ministry burnout movement right now is so alive.

But Paul shows us another way that we can be joyful.

We can be joyful because our ministry isn't our own, it's God's.

And if there is suffering involved, if he ordains it, then he will use it to build his church.

So study church history.

Churches have been established from the cry of the martyrs.

Revival happens when the world sees Christians standing tall in the midst of great turmoil.

And not only that, but he will use it to shape you and mold you more into Christ's image.

And so we can rejoice in any storm that comes our way in ministry.

And so weary pastor, small group leader, tired parent, anyone who is a Christian who is attempting any degree of ministry, hear these words.

Rejoice in your sufferings.

They are only making you more like Christ in edifying the believers around you.

You've heard the phrase that adversity will either make you or break you.

Well, if you're a Christian, it will only make you.

And so this is the attitude of Paul's ministry: joyful, selfless suffering.

And next he shows us the essence of his ministry.

In verses 25 through 27, he says, Of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

And so the Apostle Paul had a unique ministry.

He was commissioned by God to be a Christian missionary to the Gentiles.

So in the ages past, this was a mystery.

The Jews knew that a Messiah would come.

They knew that through them they would bless all nations.

But how that was going to work out?

It was concealed.

Nobody knew.

God kept it hidden until the fullness of Christ.

But after Jesus Christ came to earth and he proclaimed the will of God and he died for our sins and was resurrected into glory, this whole revelation that salvation for all people by grace through faith in Jesus Christ was revealed and established.

And so God had publicly unveiled that which was formerly concealed.

And Paul's ministry was making this mystery known among the Gentiles.

So, in other words, to put this simply, Paul's ministry was proclaiming God's revealed word, making it fully known.

It really was that simple.

Communicating to the world the only message that saves for both Jews and Gentiles, male or female, slave or free.

The gospel of Jesus Christ.

So if you have any desire to be effective for God, to be a useful tool in his hand, to see lives changed and believers matured, God's revealed word must be the centerpiece of your ministry.

As Hebrews 4 tells us, the word of God, it's alive, it's active.

You know, there's a story about these missionaries who went over to a lost tribe somewhere far, I think in southern Brazil somewhere, and they learned the tribal language, and they came up with the game plan of uh not giving them the word directly because the people were so uncivilized.

They had no sense of morality, no sense of anything.

And so they said, you know what, let's teach these this people, this uncivilized people about objective truth and morality and uh intellectualism.

Let's try to help them, let's build a framework first before we introduce the scriptures.

Well, they tried for a year and they got nowhere with the people.

And eventually they decided to kind of give up and go home.

And uh one of the missionaries said, you know what, before we go, why don't we just start reading the word to them?

Yeah, they might not get it, they might not understand it, but let's just start reading the word to them.

And so they read the word to them in their own language, and revival broke out.

And the people said, Why didn't you tell us this?

So is the word of God the center of your discipleship group?

Is it the center of your evangelism?

Is scripture the focus of your mentorship, of your own personal life?

Are you stewarding God's word to those around you?

Or are you just trying to help others through worldly strategies and methods?

Look, commentaries, Christian books and podcasts are great.

But live in the word and proclaim that word, share it to a generation of lost souls that are sprinting towards hellfire.

One of the greatest tragedies, I believe, in our American Christianity is not that people deny the inerrancy of Scripture, although some Christians, if they can be called that, do, but it is the denial of the sufficiency of Scripture in a hypertherapeutic and pragmatic culture.

We simply just do not believe that the Word of God is sufficient for all matters pertaining to life and godliness.

We proclaim it, but we deny the power of it.

And when that happens, we look to the world around us and we say, surely, no one will want to hear this.

It's going to be offensive.

So we water it down.

And we look for other things in the world that might help people get better spiritually.

We start to entertain people, we start to cater to the flesh and rely on things like psychology and sociology and man-made structures to be our ultimate guide.

And this is what the Gnostics were doing in Paul's day: saying that they had a new word, a new revelation, in addition to or equal to Scripture.

But like Paul, may the heartbeat of our lives and our ministry be God's word.

May we absorb it, digest it, embrace it, proclaim it.

May we proclaim to the world like Paul was at the end of verse 27, that Christ can live in you.

That's the way Paul sums up his gospel message here.

Paul could have said many other things, but he sums it up this way: that Christ can live in you and give you hope for all glorious things.

So in the Old Testament, uh the Holy Spirit came upon certain people to empower them for service, but then the Holy Spirit would leave again.

But in the New Testament, believers have a different experience as the Spirit indwells us permanently.

Christ's presence in us is the hope of glory.

Our once dead and our darkened spirits are made alive.

Christ is in our hearts, and we know that there is life beyond this earthly existence, a life that will be glorious beyond all imagination.

So that was Paul's declaration that God can forgive you.

His son has died for you, and he will live with you, making you a new creation.

And we get that all from what?

His word.

And next, Paul shows us the purpose of his ministry in verse 28.

He says, Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

So why is Paul doing ministry?

What's the point?

What is his hopeful outcome?

Does he proclaim Christ to build a bigger church?

Does he preach the gospel to gain a bigger following on Facebook?

Does he share God's word to be recognized as a great teacher?

No.

He proclaims Christ and He warns and He teaches so that people would mature in Christ.

That's his ministry goal.

This is a motive that we should always examine in ministry.

Why do I share the Bible with my family?

Why do I go to Bible study each week?

Why am I disciplining my kids, discipling my kids?

Why evangelize?

Because it's the right thing to do?

Because I need more friends?

Because I don't want to let people down?

The goal of ministry is always.

Others focused.

It is to present other Christians mature in Jesus Christ.

Anytime you make ministry about you, it fails.

It breaks my heart when people go to a church or a small group or get involved in ministry and they just start complaining.

You know, I don't like the music.

I don't like the structure of the service.

I don't like the way they're doing this thing.

And really what people are saying is, I don't like it because they're not doing it my way, and my way is the right way.

But ministry is not about you.

Ministry is about worshiping the risen Christ.

It's about gathering with God's people and saying, how can I be a blessing to someone today?

How can I lay down my life for my brothers and sisters?

Is there something I can do to serve the brethren so that I might help them grow, even in the smallest degree, towards maturity in Christ?

In any ministry, this should be our goal: to equip the saints for the works of ministry, to grow them in Christ.

That's Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

It should be our goal to grow spiritual infants, to get them to spiritual adults, to make strong disciples.

We should always be looking for ways to uplift, encourage, teach, rebuke with all wisdom.

That is why the church is referred to as a body, a living body, because we're all working together, helping one another grow stronger as we look to Christ, awaiting the full day of redemption.

So lastly, Paul shows us the power of his ministry.

In verse 29, he says, For this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me.

So, in short, Paul here shows us the means of his ministry, God's unlimited power.

How can Paul be joyful in prison?

How does he even have the emotional capability to put up with public disgrace and accusations?

How can he physically keep going on mission trips?

Here's how.

He drew strength from God's power.

It is impossible to do God's work if you are not drawing from God's power.

And trust me, I've tried, I've been there.

I'm guilty of trying to do ministry in the arm of the flesh.

You will find yourself empty, drained, and ready to check yourself into a crisis center.

Because you cannot fight off demons, nor can you deliver a message of Christ boldly before men, nor can you persevere in adversity or persecution by yourself.

You are a fallen human being with limitations.

We need God's enabling power and grace in our ministry efforts.

Okay, God doesn't just give us a kingdom task and say, here's what I want you to do.

Good luck.

He doesn't do that.

He supplies everything we need and more to achieve what he requires of us.

We can draw from the strength, from his strength through prayer.

We can draw enabling grace through his word.

We can walk faithfully with integrity through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And he supplies tools and encouragement through the fellowship with his saints.

And here's what I love about this.

Anything that you and I accomplish in ministry, God gets the credit.

Not me.

I can't pat myself on the back.

I can't stand tall and say, look at how spiritual I am.

Why?

Because apart from Christ, I can do nothing.

This is what Philippians 2.13 tells us.

That it is God working in us both to will and to work according to his good purpose.

Let me give you an illustration.

When Jay was a little bit younger, my son Jay, when he's about, when he just turned three, and he was talking a little bit, he would always come up to me and say, I'm bored.

I'm bored, Dad, I want to do something, which drives me nuts, by the way.

And so I would create a desire in him.

And I would say, hey buddy, why don't we go and shoot the basketball at the basketball hoop?

And he would get all excited, but then he wasn't tall enough, right?

So I'd have to go out there with him.

I'd put the ball in his hands, I'd lift him up, and he'd throw the ball in the hoop.

And then after this, I would hear him telling people behind my back that I decided to shoot the basketball and I made it in the hoop all by myself, he would say.

But that wasn't the truth, was it?

No, without me, the desire would have never come to him.

And without me, he would have never gotten the ball in the hoop.

And in the same way, God is the one who influences our will.

He gives us the godly desire, and he is the one who enables us by his spirit to perform it.

So no one can boast before God, pat themselves on the back, and say, look at how successful my ministry is.

No one can say that.

Because it is God who both wills and works in us, and it is his energy that powerfully works within me.

And so, Proclamation Church, what is our conclusion here?

What do we learn from all this?

In your ministry efforts, and just a side note, if you're a Christian, by the way, and you say you have no ministry, that's not true.

Okay, every Christian is a minister.

You may not hold an office or you may not do it vocationally, but you do have ministry to some degree at hand.

So in ministry, are you suffering with joy?

Are you rejoicing in your afflictions for the sake of others?

Or are you just complaining?

So disgruntled about the opposition that you face, allowing the response of others or circumstances to dictate your joy?

Or are you rejoicing in your suffering because God is using it to shape you, to mold you, and to use it as a testimony for the saints?

And in your ministry efforts, is God's word the center of it?

Are you extracting truth from God's word and proclaiming it and warning people and teaching his truths with all wisdom?

Or have you made it a secondary thing, or worse, just totally neglecting it?

What are you trying to win people with?

Because, as Jared Wilson once said, whatever you win people with is what you win them to.

And what is the goal of your ministry?

Honestly, what are your motives?

To be someone special, to get attention, to make people more like you?

Or is your goal, like Paul, to mature believers in Christ, that they may grow in their understanding of and their love for the risen Christ?

May we realign ourselves today, highly esteeming the eternal word of God, which has the power and the complete sufficiency to raise dead men to life.

And what is your ministry powered by?

Is it powered by your own intellect, the praise of men?

What fuels your labor for Christ?

May it be nothing, nothing other than God Himself, by seeking Him in humble prayer with an open Bible.

And may we be a people that are ready to admit that I am weak and I am pitiful and apart from Christ without Him, I accomplish nothing, no good thing.

So, God, I need your help, I need your grace, I need your guidance.

So may this be our philosophy of ministry, corporately as a church and individually.

Joyful suffering, God's word, maturing saints, and doing all this with the power that God supplies.

Let's pray.

Father, what a what a privilege it is that you would not only save us from hell, that you wouldn't only atone for our sin, but that you would turn us around and commission us to do your work on earth.

Lord, it's hard to believe at times.

I pray, God, that we would take this scripture to heart, that it would fuel our ministry, that our ministry would be God glorifying, a sweet-smelling aroma before your throne.

Lord, help us to be effective in the right ways.

And Lord, may we be not just be hearers of this truth this morning, but doers of it.

Help us to meditate on this and may it bear a lot of fruit in our lives, Lord.

And so, Father, thank you for your faithfulness this morning.

Thank you for your goodness.

Thank you for Paul's example.

And thank you that we have your truth and we can know you through it.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray.

Amen.