Book: Colossians

In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij concludes his study of Colossians by investigating the apostle Paul’s final greetings in the letter. Pastor Babij explains how the final four groups of people Paul identifies in the letter serve as instructional examples for Christians, who together are to be going about the gospel mission. The final groups Pastor Babij discusses are:

1. Two Letter Carriers (Information Squad) (vv. 7-9)
2. Three Jewish Supporters (Encouragement Squad) (vv. 10-11)
3. Three Gentile Coworkers (Warrior Squad) (vv. 12-14)
4. Two Local Christians (Hospitality and Future Ministry Squad) (vv. 15-17)

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Summary

Colossians 4:12-18 reveals how every believer is called to faithfully participate in the Gospel Mission through their unique gifts and callings. We are reminded that the church functions as an interdependent body where Jews and Gentiles, people from all walks of life, work together for the advancement of the Gospel. Through the examples of Epaphras, Luke, and Demas, we see the importance of prayer warfare, faithful service, historical accuracy in Scripture, and the sobering warning against loving the world.

Key Lessons:

1. Agonizing prayer is essential to ministry — Epaphras models that much of the real work of ministry is accomplished through wrestling in prayer for spiritual maturity and discernment.
2. God chose precise, faithful historians like Luke to record Scripture, giving us confidence that the Bible is accurate and trustworthy as the foundation for the church.
3. Loving the present world leads to spiritual destruction — Demas’s desertion warns us that unfaithfulness can overtake even those who once served alongside great leaders.
4. Every believer has a role in the Gospel Mission, whether through prayer, hospitality, encouragement, information, or direct ministry — no one is exempt from participation.

Application: We are called to examine which “squad” we belong to in the Gospel Mission and to actively use our gifts, talents, and opportunities for the edification of the body of Christ. We must guard against worldliness, commit to agonizing prayer for one another, and faithfully fulfill whatever ministry God has entrusted to us without quitting.

Discussion Questions:

1. Epaphras agonized in prayer for the spiritual maturity of his fellow believers — how can we develop a more intentional and persistent prayer life for our church body?
2. Demas deserted Paul because he loved the present world — what practical warning signs should we watch for in our own lives that might indicate we are drifting toward worldliness?
3. The sermon listed many ministries within the church — which ministry or “squad” do you feel God is calling you to participate in more faithfully, and what steps can you take this week?

Scripture Focus: Colossians 4:12-18 provides the primary text, highlighting Epaphras’s prayer warfare, Luke’s faithful companionship, and Demas’s desertion. Supporting passages include Colossians 1:9-10, 1:27-28 on spiritual maturity and completeness in Christ; 2 Timothy 4:10 on Demas’s love of the world; 1 John 2:15 on not loving the world; Isaiah 46 on God’s sovereignty over history; and James 5:16 on the power of prayer.

Outline

• Introduction
• Group Participation in the Gospel Mission
• Review of Previous Groups
• The Gentile Co-Workers: The Warrior Squad
• Epaphras: The Hardworking Missionary Prayer Warrior
• Epaphras as a Discerning Pastor
• Counteracting False Teaching
• Warning Against Wrongheaded Approaches
• Epaphras as a Fighting Prayer Pastor
• Wrestling for Spiritual Maturity and God’s Will
• The Price Tag of Discipleship
• Epaphras as a Deeply Pained Pastor
• Luke: The Beloved Physician
• Luke as a Biblical Historian
• The Accuracy and Purpose of Biblical History
• The Church Must Not Be Divorced from History
• The Biblical View of History from Isaiah 46
• History Is Linear and Theological
• The Book of Acts and the Holy Spirit
• Demas: From Useful to Useless
• The Love of the World
• The Danger of Walking Away
• The Hospitality and Future Ministry Squad
• Archippus: The Substitute Pastor
• The Challenge of Ministry
• All Believers Participate in the Gospel Mission
• What Squad Will You Join?
• The Overall Goal: Complete in Christ
• Closing Prayer

Introduction

Okay, let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Colossians 4. I’ll be finishing up Colossians this morning as we go from verse 1 to the last verse in chapter 4. Colossians 4, we’ll be looking at verses 12 through 18.

I’ve been looking at, in these last two messages, the group participation in the Gospel Mission. Paul, in these closing greetings, mentions 10 people who were, in their own right, faithful participants of the Gospel Mission.

Group Participation in the Gospel Mission

Now this means that the church, the body of Christ, each individual believer who is indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God, is called to carry out the unfinished work of Christ. The Lord ascended into heaven and gave a mission to His disciples, to His apostles, and His disciples. He really gave them a mission to be continuers of the work that He started.

In the end greetings here in Colossians, it shows the interdependence of believers. Even though we are all insufficient in and of ourselves, as a body of Christ and by the Holy Spirit of God and the word of God, we can become holy, without blemish and blameless before Christ. When God brings that body together, it becomes a formidable force in this world, no matter how dark it gets, for the expansion of the Gospel.

“When God brings that body together, it becomes a formidable force in this world for the expansion of the Gospel.”

That human insufficiency, as I mentioned last week, is acknowledged alongside the all-sufficiency of Christ Jesus. All of us, every one of us, participates in the Gospel mission somehow or another, right? That’s what God designed the church to be.

We are presented in this passage of scripture with living examples, real people. These living examples are imperfect models, but they are models that we can follow because we are all imperfect. The Lord is making us into the image of Jesus Christ. As we saw last week, we will continue to see that the character of these Christians is noteworthy, especially because they come from all walks of life. They are all different kinds of people: Jews, Gentiles, people who were in prison, people who are imprisoned, and people who have all kinds of spiritual gifts and talents God gave them. We can model ourselves after every one of them. In fact, maybe we see ourselves in one of these people mentioned in Paul’s greetings.

Review of Previous Groups

Again, the question we should ask ourselves is: could such things be said about me and about you that are said about these Gospel participants? So far, we looked at two letter carriers. I called them the information squad. The first letter carrier was Tychicus. He was a very strong individual, a leader, trustworthy, taking the information from Paul and bringing these letters to the churches of Ephesus and Colossae. The second letter carrier was Onesimus. He was a runaway slave, bringing a letter back to his master with instructions from Paul on what to do. We’ll see all that when we get to Philemon.

After that, we saw three Jewish supporters. I called them the encouragement squad. Aristarchus was the first one. He was a willing sufferer. Than Justice, who was that comforter. Then there was Mark, John Mark, who was useful, then useless, and then very useful to Paul. He went from being immature to becoming mature. In the last part of Paul’s life, he wanted Mark right by his side. The Lord was working on all these people. The Spirit of God was sanctifying them as He is doing to us today. We see Jews and Gentiles working together in the Gospel mission, all kinds of people working together for the Gospel mission.

“Could such things be said about me and about you that are said about these Gospel participants?”

Today, we come to the third group, which I call the Gentile co-workers, the warrior squad. But let’s pray. Lord, this morning, as we look at these passages of scripture and glean from these individuals how You used them to strengthen the church, to encourage us, we know that some have failed in the beginning, but then You picked them up again. They grew in Christlikeness and became mature, useful participants of the Gospel. Lord, that can be us. I pray that every one of us would come to that place where we desire for the Spirit of God to use us in some way within the body to grow the church and advance the Gospel message.

Lord, we can pass the baton to the next generation. They can do the same thing, Lord, until the day You come back. I pray we will be faithful in this task. Thank you, Lord, for the faithful people You have given us here in our ministry. I pray You continue to bless us with faithful people who will grow in their desire to know the word of God and become strong soldiers of Christ, unable to be moved by any kind of false teaching, able to stand in the midst and sometimes stand alone because they know what they believe from the word of God. I pray this for all of us and for the furtherance of the Church of Jesus Christ. I pray that in Christ’s name. Amen.

The Gentile Co-Workers: The Warrior Squad

Let’s look at this third group, the Gentile co-workers. I call them the warrior squad, and you’ll find out soon why I call them that. Notice that in these three Gentile co-workers, we have Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. I want to deal with each one of them.

“In these three Gentile co-workers, we have Epaphras, Luke, and Demas.”

Epaphras: The Hardworking Missionary Prayer Warrior

Epaphras as a Discerning Pastor

The first one is Epaphras. He is the hardworking missionary prayer warrior. The first thing about Epaphras is that he is a discerning pastor. It looked like Epaphras, the founder of the church in Laodicea and Hierapolis, was the lead elder and pastor of the church at Colossae. He reported to Paul about the troubling circumstances at the church, like the false ideas and the false teaching that were being dispersed among the believers in Colossae. Epaphras most likely sensed that an apostle needed to be confronted and brought this information about one false teacher and his teaching that was really upsetting the churches, especially the church at Colossae. Epaphras most likely felt unprepared to take this on himself, so he brought the information to Paul. To do that, he had to articulate to Paul what exactly was going on and what was being taught. That’s what he did. He brought to Paul the circumstances and the information that Paul needed so Paul could respond in the Epistle of Colossians and the Epistle of Ephesians in the right manner.

That’s exactly what Paul does when he’s writing to the Colossians. He gives a threefold intention from the book of Colossians. First, he wanted to establish a rapport with the Colossian believers and express his pastoral concern for their spiritual health and well-being. Why did Paul want to do that? Because Paul never visited the Colossian church, and neither did he have any part in founding it. Epaphras was his main connection to this church. This included strengthening and confirming their adherence to the Gospel that they had already received. If you look at chapter 1, verse 4, you see these phrases:

Since we heard of your faith in Christ and the love which you have for all the saints.

 
Then in chapter 1, verse 8:

And he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. 

This is information coming to Paul, and he’s getting it right from the one who was part of the Colossian church and understood everything that was going on. He is interested in them and in the true Gospel among them.

“To be able to bring information to Paul, Epaphras had to articulate exactly what was going on.”

Counteracting False Teaching

Another thing that Paul got information about is how to counteract the clever false teaching that had arisen in the church and confused the believers. The false teacher and those who follow him were claiming for themselves an unusual degree of knowledge, learning, and insight. In fact, the false teachers had a most complicated system. Most false teaching is complicated. Try to unravel much of it. It’s got a lot of ins and outs, a lot of doors to open, and a lot of things to figure out. It even leads into mysticism where you really never do figure it out. When you put complicated false teaching alongside the Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ seems clear and much more simple.

They were teaching, these false teachers, that between man and God there was this whole series of angelic beings who acted as intermediaries between God and men. If men and women wanted to have any kind of communion with God, they had to go from one of these to the next, the next to the next. At the top of the list was Jesus, who is the highest go-between between man and God. That was the false teaching in a nutshell. Paul had to be able to refute that, and that’s what he does in the Epistle to the Colossians.

“When you put complicated false teaching alongside the Gospel, the Gospel seems clear and much more simple.”

Warning Against Wrongheaded Approaches

And then a third thing that he got information to be able to write about is to warn the believers in Colossae about the several wrongheaded approaches to the Christian life and ministry that were the result of false teaching. False teaching will always lead to false practice. True teaching from the word of God will always lead to correct thinking and behavior.

That’s why when you read through Colossians, what do you read? You read things like this. In chapter 2, verse 8:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception. 

You read things like in chapter 2, verse 16:

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink and in respect to a festival, a new moon, or a Sabbath day.

And then again in chapter 2, verse 18:

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize, delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.

That’s the false teacher. He’s saying, “Don’t let these things capture you.” Why is that? Because they give an appearance of wisdom, but they have no value to overcome fleshly indulgence. Only true teaching can give you the ability to say no to your sin and no to the indulgence and the temptation that will come to your flesh, because you want to please the Lord. Plus, you have the Spirit of God living in you, and you have the word of God to tell you what are the things that please the Lord and what are the things that do not please the Lord.

“False teaching will always lead to false practice. True teaching will always lead to correct thinking and behavior.”

Epaphras as a Fighting Prayer Pastor

You see, the first thing about Epaphras is that he was a discerning pastor, able to bring information to Paul so Paul could write Colossians. Secondly, Epaphras was a fighting prayer pastor. If you notice in chapter 4, verse 12, it says:

Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in your prayers. 

In other words, the word, to always labor earnestly, is the Greek word “agonism,” which means to agonize in your prayers, to fight in your prayers, to struggle in your prayers. Do you ever sense that when you are praying, that it is a battle? It is a struggle to do that because we are struggling for biblical truth. We are struggling to dispel doubts in Christ’s disciples. We are struggling in prayer for one another.

Colossians 4:12: “Always laboring earnestly for you in your prayers.”

What does he wrestle for in his prayers on behalf of the saints? The scripture tells us what he’s wrestling for. It says here that you may stand perfect, complete, and mature. In other words, he is wrestling for their spiritual maturity. That’s what he’s wrestling for. We should be wrestling for each other, that we would all grow and become spiritually strong.

Another thing he’s wrestling for is so we would stand, so that no false teaching will come along and push you around or cause doubts in your mind. We need to know where to go in scripture to understand that is not the right way to look at things. This is because I see it right in scripture. I can read it myself. He also wrestles for their full discernment in the will of God. In verse 12, it says:

That you may stand fully assured in all the will of God.

That is what we want to be assured of in our lives: the will of God. What is God’s will for you? What is God’s will for me?

Wrestling for Spiritual Maturity and God’s Will

That when Paul mentions in Romans 12 that we are to give ourselves over to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, so that we would not be conformed to the world but be transformed in the renewing of our mind, we would know the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. It’s found in the word of God. We prayed this morning: “God’s will be done on earth as it’s done in heaven.” Well, we’re actually putting into practice this morning the will of God. You’re here because it’s God’s will for you to be here. We’re looking at the word of God because it’s God’s will for us to be preaching the verses and the words in scripture so we can all grow and understand what God has done. That’s God’s will. If we lay aside the word of God or if we don’t preach the word of God, then we’re not doing the will of God. We’re out of the will of God. If we’re not taking what we’re hearing, understanding it, meditating upon it, and practicing it, then we’re not doing the will of God. We’re not being pleasing to the Lord.

I thought, when I was reading this, maybe the Apostle Paul learned how to pray from Epaphras. Maybe that was his example. But maybe they taught each other, because if you go back to chapter 1 of Colossians, verse 9, Paul’s prayer is very similar to what Epaphras prays. It says:

For this reason also, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased to pray for you and asked that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

With all Bible-based facts and information about the knowledge of God’s will, you and I become enabled to take all the information and the facts that we learn from the word of God and actually be useful with them. We can joyfully construct in our life, from the knowledge of the word of God, a life that pleases God, a life that learns how to overcome sin, a life that learns how to minister and use our spiritual gifts. He enables you and me to reach the goal of being filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding. That is the goal for Paul’s prayers and the goal for Epaphras’s prayers, because even as we read in chapter 1, verse 10:

So that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

“We become enabled to take all the facts we learn from the word of God and construct a life that pleases God.”

To have a true knowledge of God is to grow in a personal and intimate knowledge, where God is real to you and you are conscious of His presence every single day of your life. You wake up, and your mind immediately goes to the presence of the Lord in your life. He knows all that’s going on in your life. He knows what you’re doing in your life. To know a person means something beyond a casual acquaintance. Knowledge means an intimate, personal, and special knowledge of God the Father that comes from an understanding of scripture and being familiar with the scripture.

The Price Tag of Discipleship

As a Christian takes in the truth, both understanding and heart are expanded, and moral power is multiplied. That means we begin to bear fruit that truly accomplishes a greater knowledge of the word of God. The Christian grows by knowledge. Only a steady diet of spiritual food from the word of God will continue this growth.

As soon as you lay the word of God aside, as soon as you back away from it, you stop growing because that’s your spiritual food. If you decided that you are not going to eat any food for a month, you would have problems, right? You would have problems. The same thing applies to the word of God. If you allow whatever reasons or circumstances to pull you away from the word of God, don’t let it happen. To be disciplined, to be in the word every day, to be reading it every day, to be faithful in listening to the word of God, and then meditating upon the word of God will always help you grow. It will make you strong. As you continue to grow, you will mature more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. That is the goal of the Spirit of God.

“Only a steady diet of spiritual food from the word of God will continue this growth.”

One commentator said this, which I agree with: “He said the price tag of making mature, focused disciples of Christ is the agonizing labor of prayer.” However, I don’t think we always put the emphasis on prayer that we should. We tend to take it or leave it. I’m talking about corporate prayer too, where we meet together to pray. Is this not a prayer request for all of us that we would grow in this way as we pray for one another?

“The price tag of making mature, focused disciples of Christ is the agonizing labor of prayer.”

Epaphras as a Deeply Pained Pastor

This is the kind of man he was: to pray for his people because he was fighting against false teachers. He was fighting for the truth. He was fighting for their maturity in prayer before God. That means something. It means that he believed much of the work of ministry is accomplished in prayer. I think we ought to believe that. I believe that’s the example we can take from him this morning.

In verse 12 of chapter 4, he was also a deeply pained pastor. It says, “For I testify,” and in verse 13,

For him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 

Deep concern. This word, deep concern, is used three times in the New Testament: this here and twice in Revelation. In Revelation, it is translated as pain. In Colossians, it is more like he had a burden in prayer. It was hard. It was exhaustive work, and it produced stress because of what he was praying for. His exhaustive work for the people was in his prayers.

Didn’t James say the same thing? That the effectual prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. How much doesn’t get done when we don’t pray? But things get done that we can never do in prayer. God takes care of things in prayer because we’re seeking His face. We’re agonizing before Him. We’re bringing our requests, our petitions, our intercessions before God. That’s what we’re doing. Believe me, when we do that, you can see how Epaphras was a true soldier of the Gospel Mission by just the way he lived, how he thought, and how he prayed.

“He believed that much of the work of ministry is accomplished in prayer.”

We need prayer warriors in the church. We need people who are going to bring things before the Lord every day. You need people to pray. I need people to pray for me. You need people to pray for you. We can take that example from this man here this morning.

Luke: The Beloved Physician

But that leads me to the next person in our passage, and that’s in verse number 14. That’s Luke. If you notice, it only says,

Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings. 

I believe this is the only place that it tells us Luke was a physician. We know that Luke was right there with Paul through most of his ministry. He was there through the thick and thin, through the ups and downs, through the good and the bad, through the dangers and the attacks of Satan. At the same time, while experiencing God’s grace and mercy to protect and deliver his servants in difficult ministry, Luke was there. In other words, on normal days, he was there, also on miraculous days. Luke reminded Paul often and remained with him right to the end. He came alongside Paul to be an encouragement to him.

“Luke was there through the thick and thin, through the ups and downs, through the good and the bad.”

He was a physician. When you’re reading the book of Acts, you’ll find that he uses very medical terms. He calls things dysentery and mentions diseases because he’s writing the book of Acts. He was a faithful companion. In Philemon 1:24, it says,

As do Mark and Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow worker. 

We see that he accompanied Paul and was a traveling companion, mostly on his second and third missionary journeys.

Luke as a Biblical Historian

And we cannot miss that Luke, most of all, was a historian. He was a biblical historian. If you turn your Bibles to Luke 1, you’ll find that he had a threefold method in his gathering information. It says in Luke 1:1-2, the first thing he does is he gets sources. It says:

In so much as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us. Just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

 
What did he do as a historian? He gets eyewitnesses from the beginning and then he gets servants, not just anybody, but servants of the word of God, people who were in the work. He gathers their information.

Notice in verse 3, there’s a method he uses in being a historian. It says:

It seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order. 

In other words, he gave careful investigation to write out everything in consecutive order. Isn’t that the kind of historian you want? To make sure that he gets all the facts right, looks at them, analyzes them, and then writes them down.

“He gave careful investigation to write out everything carefully in consecutive order.”

The Accuracy and Purpose of Biblical History

What we have the book of Acts today because of Luke. This encourages us to know that if this was the kind of historian he was, then the Bible that I read is accurate because that’s who God picked to write the book of Acts. Remember, the book of Acts is a history book. It’s a history of the church.

All of this means that pure history has a purpose. It is a demonstration of God’s intervention in history. The meaning of history is in God’s work: God reaching down into the mass of fallen humanity, saving some hellbent men and women, and bringing them into the new fellowship called the church. He begins to work in them in such a way that they would bring glory to God and Jesus Christ.

“Pure history is a demonstration of God’s intervention in history.”

The Church Must Not Be Divorced from History

That means that Luke, the physician, the faithful worker, the accurate historian, the author of the book of Acts, does not merely give us a history of the early church. He tells us that there is a plan to history. God is unfolding history. He is in control of it.

But what about today? Today, the church is being recreated in many different ways by diverse groups. Those groups are deciding on their own what the Christian church is. They are deciding what the church ought to be with the mindset that divorces itself from the past and often from scripture itself. In other words, they are saying, “We don’t really care what happened 2,000 years ago.” If that is where they start, they will just add to the confusion and the bewilderment already present concerning the Christian church today. In fact, they will never find out what the church is or what Christianity is all about. It’s a very slippery slope to an atmosphere already of no hope.

“If they divorce themselves from the past and from scripture, they will never find out what the church is.”

Christianity is a historical faith. Therefore, it must not be divorced from history. Even though today history doesn’t seem to be a very big thing. Even our own country, our own history here in the United States gets pushed aside. In fact, the common dictionary definition of history is that it’s a chronological record of significant events, usually including an explanation of their causes. History is indeed a little more than the register of crimes, foibles, and misfortunes of mankind.

When one develops a biblical perspective of history, they find themselves concluding that the Bible emphasizes history as events relating to the acts of God and to the acts of men, rather than history as documents and research or reconstruction. In other words, history is His story: the hand of God in the dealing of fallen men.

The Biblical View of History from Isaiah 46

We read Isaiah 46 this morning. The reason I had that read is that in that chapter we get information about the biblical view of history. For example, in that chapter, without going there, we find that history is really rooted in God’s eternal, sovereign decree. It says in Isaiah,

Remember the former things, long past, for I am God and there’s no other. I am God and there is no one like me.

Also, history is linear. It has a beginning and it has an end. Biblical history is not circular; it’s linear. What does it say in Isaiah 46:10?

Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that have not been done.

So history is a story with a well-defined plot. It begins with creation and it ends with the consummation of the ages.

Isaiah 46:10: “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that have not been done.”

History Is Linear and Theological

Who picks this up? Peter picks it up. For Peter says this:

but the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with the roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Then you read Revelation 21:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth and the first heaven and the first earth passed away. And I heard the loud voice from heaven saying: ‘Behold, the Tabernacle of God is among men and I will dwell among them and they shall be His people and God himself will be among them.’” Then He said to me: “I am, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”

See, the Bible teaches that biblical history is linear. It’s heading somewhere. That means time flows into eternity, never to return again. But history is also theological. It has a design. It has a purpose. Isaiah 46:

I have planned it. Surely I will do it.

Later on, in the last chapter of Isaiah, we find out that history is also doxological. It glorifies God. For it says in Isaiah 66:19:

And they will declare my glory among the nations.

“History is also theological — it has a design and a purpose. And it is doxological — it glorifies God.”

The Book of Acts and the Holy Spirit

If you want to know what our hope is, you must go back to the very beginning and rediscover how the church started and what she did. You must stand on the authority of the word of God to find out the origin of the church and the phenomena of Christianity. It’s like no other category of religion. It is completely different from every other standard that is out there. This means that the book of Acts, written by Luke, is the acts of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. It may be more accurately called the acts of the Holy Spirit, who worked through people to advance the Gospel Mission.

In the book of Acts, we have an accurate history of the establishment of the church, the extension of the church, and the expansion of the church. Luke is an essential team member in the group of faithful participants in the Gospel Mission. Do you realize that if we didn’t have the book of Acts, we wouldn’t know where to go? We wouldn’t know what to do. We wouldn’t know how it happened. Thank the Lord for someone like Luke, with this kind of personality, this kind of exactness, and this kind of desire to get it right. If he gets it right and puts it in print as God had him do, today, all these years later, we can know this is exactly what happened and be confident of it because of who He chose to do it well.

“The book of Acts may be more accurately called the acts of the Holy Spirit, who worked through people to advance the Gospel.”

Demas: From Useful to Useless

That brings us back to Colossians 4. We look at a third person: Demas. I call Demas the useful to the useless. If you notice what it says here:

And also Demas sends you greetings. 

He was a fellow worker. It tells us also in Philemon 1:

My fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus greets you, as do Mark and Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow worker. 

During the composition of this letter, Demas appears to be in good standing with the Apostle Paul and with the church. He was a fellow coworker.

But mark this on your calendar: love is risky and relationships can be complicated. There are no guarantees that people will not disappoint you. There are no guarantees.

Demas is one of those people. He went from being faithful to being faithless. We said, “Well, how do that, Pastor Babij?” I want you to turn your Bible to 2 Timothy 4:10. We see here that the real love of Demas’s heart came to the surface. I believe Paul recorded with great discouragement his report about Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10. Look at what he says:

For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens have gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.”

2 Timothy 4:10: “Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”

The Love of the World

What’s happening here is, you’ve heard the saying: “What you love, you will do.” Now you may ask, “Well, what really happened to him?” The Bible tells us what happened to him: his love was not the Lord. His love was this present world, the present world that he lived in.

In fact, if you go to other places in scripture, you might wonder, “Whatever happened to him? Did he just walk away and maybe come back?” We hear nothing else after this. All you have to do is go through a few scriptures. What does it say in James 4:4?

Listen, you adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility with God? And whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God?

Then in 1 John 2:15:

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Now I ask you the question: If the love of the Father is not in somebody, then where are they spiritually? Are they a believer? It doesn’t sound like it. It sounds like they have forsaken what they know. The idea of the world includes man in rebellion, especially men hostile to God. It also includes a way of life, especially a way of life opposed to the purposes of God. The world system involves the values, pleasures, pastimes, and aspirations of the world. It didn’t just say that he went into the world and did his own thing. It said he loved it. His heart was there in it.

1 John 2:15: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

People who love the world are in rebellion to God. They don’t know him. Actually, 1 John 3:1 goes even further. It says:

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God. And such we are. For this reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him.

Then 1 John 2 says:

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, 

All these view the world system in a self-sufficient independence of God and a willful opposition to God, coupled with a disregard of the judgments of God, the standard of God, and yes, the very existence of God. I can live my life the way I want, and I’ll love and pursue what I want.”

People who love the world do not love the Father. If you don’t love the Father, you don’t love the Son. If you don’t love the Father and the Son, you don’t have the Spirit.

The Danger of Walking Away

So you conclude where Demas ended up. Demas did slip. He lost enthusiasm. He failed in the faith. He left the battlefield for the glitter of the world. That’s what he did. He started out strong but crashed and burned in the end. We don’t want to end up like that.

But when people walk away and give really no reason or purpose for why they walk away and don’t come back, I don’t know. It’s a sad story. We all know people like that. It breaks my heart to see people walk away like that. Where have you been? Have you been learning anything? Has it been getting down into your heart? No. Some people just walk away, to their own soul’s destruction.

“He started out strong but crashed and burned in the end. We don’t want to end up like that.”

The Hospitality and Future Ministry Squad

Well, let me finish up with the last couple of people. I’ll not spend a lot of time on this, but two local Christians. Colossians 4:15-17, I call this the hospitality and future ministry squad. The first one is in verse 15. It says:

Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. 

If you have a King James, it doesn’t say her. It says his. That means something happened. It looks like in the New Testament manuscripts, the New Testament manuscript evidence was divided on whether this is a feminine or a masculine noun. The difference being that only an accent mark would change it, which was not included in the earliest manuscripts.

So it’s easy to make the mistake. But that’s not the point. Whether it’s a her or him, the point is this person was hospitable in character to the point they were willing to use their home to have a church meet there. And believe me, a home had to be big enough to fit people, right? You have to realize if people are coming to your home, even today, when you have like 20 cars suddenly show up in front of your house, people say: “Hey, what’s going on here? What’s going on over there?” Well, you think that didn’t happen back then when there were all these people suddenly in your house, and you know they were hostile to the Gospel. There’s a certain level of danger too in having people come to your home.

So here, this particular person, whether it was a he or she, was someone who had the means that God gave them, mostly wealthy enough to use their home for Gospel mission.

“This person was hospitable in character to the point they were willing to use their home for the church.”

Archippus: The Substitute Pastor

Can see that this is the hospitality squad. The last person is Archippus. I call him the substitute, upcoming pastor. Most likely, Archippus took Epaphras’s place when Epaphras went to tell Paul what was going on. He kind of took over there in the church. He was probably Philemon’s son and pastored there and in the region. He probably even had something to do with Hierapolis and the other places mentioned.

Where it says in verse 17:

Say to Archippus: ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.’” 

That sounds like a mild warning. It could be just a push, a prod. Come on, Archippus, get in there. Ministry is not easy. Go in there and do what God called you to do. Don’t quit. Fulfill the definite purpose God called you for.

“Fulfill the definite purpose God called you for.”

The thing is that we know he wasn’t sloppy. Why do we know that? Because of what it says in Philemon 1:2 about this individual, Archippus. It says:

And Apphia, our sister, and to Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house. 

We know that he was no pushover. He was a strong individual. But even strong individuals need a little push sometimes when they see things are getting tough and it’s not as easy as they thought it would be.

The Challenge of Ministry

When young guys come to me and say, “Pastor, if this doesn’t work out, I’m going to go into the ministry,” I say, You better hope that other thing works out because you don’t want to go into the ministry unless God called you there, right? Because it is no easy place.

Some people say, “Well, Pastor, how did you stay so long?” I tell them, “I quit every Monday, and Tuesday, I’m back at my office, back studying the word of God.” It’s really the word of God that I think about when I sit there and say, “I have the privilege to study the word of God. David and I have the privilege to study the word of God and make, in a sense, a living out of that. There’s no higher calling. Where am I going to go? Where do you go when you’re at that point? To me, it’s one of the highest callings that anybody could be called for. I take it very seriously. I always have. But it’s no easy place.

I think any young man who desires at all to go into the ministry has to be really counseled that that’s where he ought to be. I was in seminary with guys who dropped out left and right because they shouldn’t have been there. I could have sat down with some of those guys in five minutes and said, “You need to go somewhere else. You’re not going to be able to handle this.” But thank the Lord, he does call young men. He does gift young men. Yet sometimes we need a push, and we need to be prodded to go and fulfill the ministry God gave you to do.

“I have the privilege to study the word of God. There’s no higher calling.”

All Believers Participate in the Gospel Mission

This final observation in Colossians is that we have all kinds of people: Jew and Gentile, from all walks of life and all backgrounds, closely interacting with specific God-given gifts and talents, working hard for a common goal to faithfully participate in the Gospel Mission and to carry out the unfinished work of Christ. That’s all our jobs, no matter who you are. If you’re a believer, you’re part of that.

That’s why even in our prayer time on Wednesday, we pray for our ministries. Pastor Dave put the ministries in there, like all the people involved in our church in ministry. We have the adult Sunday school, the teen Sunday school, the children’s Sunday school, the membership class, the greeter ministry, the kitchen ministry, the nursery ministry, the worship team, the audiovisual team, the security team, the decoration team, the finance team, the administration team, the book nook, the lending library, the nursing home, the Iron Man Ministry, the side-by-side women’s ministry, the Zoom ministry, the young adult ministry, the biblical counseling ministry, and mall evangelism. I probably missed something.

All those things are designed for us to do what? To faithfully participate in any way we can in the Gospel ministry. I should include the Zoom prayer too in that. We’re all needed. In other words, we’re all needed to fulfill our ministries through Jesus Christ. There’s really no: “Well, I’m taking a break now, and I can’t do it right now.” Do something. Do something to be part of this commission that God has given to all of us.

“We’re all needed to fulfill our ministries through Jesus Christ.”

What Squad Will You Join?

What squad are you going to be part of? Are you going to be part of the information squad, accurately dispelling information to people? Are you going to be part of the encouragement squad, coming alongside people to comfort them, to prod them, to lift them up? Are you going to become the person who goes from immaturity to maturity because you are growing in Christ Jesus? Are you going to be part of the warrior squad? God has grown you to be a warfare operator in the church. That means you pray agonizing prayers. You’re not going to be like Demas, who stepped aside and became a discouragement not only to Paul but to everybody who reads that passage. Say to yourself, “I don’t want to be that person.”

Or maybe you are part of the hospitality, future ministry squad, willing to open up your home and be hospitable in any way you can for the encouragement of the church and the building up of the body of Christ.

“What squad are you going to be part of?”

The Overall Goal: Complete in Christ

And what is the overall goal from Colossians for these things? Well, we already mentioned the word of God in Colossians 1:27-28:

To whom God will to make known what is the riches of the glory of His mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man mature in Christ. 

That is the goal.

Colossians 1:28: “We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

The last verse in Colossians is where Paul says:

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you. 

To think that Paul got all that work done in prison and won many people to the Lord there is remarkable. No man could do that unless God calls him to do that, gifts him to do that, and gives him His spirit and the word of God to do that. When he does that, then he fulfills his ministry. Paul can go to the chopping block, have his head cut off, and be fine with it because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, right? Only truth could do that. Only God’s word could do that.

I pray this morning you are encouraged to be used by God in whatever opportunity, circumstance, gifts, or talents God has given you. Use them for the edification of the body, the building up of the church, and the advancement of this Gospel Mission that we’re all called to. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. Lord, thank You again. You have been so faithful to us. Even the very fact that we have the word of God, all the word of God in our hands right now, means we don’t have to wonder about anything. We may not understand everything, but Lord, it’s all here in scripture. All that You’ve done, all that You will do.

Knowing that history is linear, it’s all heading somewhere. It all has a purpose. Just to think, in this day, we are part of that purpose. Our church ministry here in New Jersey, in Somerset, in East Millstone, is part of Your purpose. It’s amazing to know that, and it is exciting to know that is the case.

So, Lord, continue to grow us, bless us, and protect us. Continue to make us like You so we can be useful and profitable for You in ministry. Whatever You’ve given us to do, help us do it faithfully. I pray this this morning in Christ’s name. Amen.

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded that the Gospel mission is not meant for a select few, but for every believer. Through Paul’s closing greetings in Colossians 4:7–11, we are shown that faithful participation in the Gospel requires people of proven character—reliable, encouraging, and willing to endure hardship for the sake of Christ. Even flawed and inconsistent believers, like John Mark, can be transformed by the Spirit into useful servants.

Key Lessons:

1. Every believer is called to participate in the Gospel mission—no one sits in the stands; we are all in the game.
2. The character of those who carry the Gospel matters: faithfulness, dependability, and a servant’s heart are essential qualities for Gospel work.
3. Past failure does not disqualify us permanently—John Mark went from deserter to Gospel writer, showing that the Spirit transforms even the most inconsistent believers.
4. Encouragement is one of the most powerful tools in the body of Christ, while discouragement—often rooted in inconsistency—is Satan’s most effective weapon.

Application: We are called to examine ourselves against the examples of Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Justus, and Mark—asking whether such things could be said of us—and to commit for the long haul to consistent, servant-hearted participation in the Gospel mission.

Discussion Questions:

1. Which of the five people mentioned in Colossians 4:7–11 do you most identify with, and why?
2. In what ways might inconsistency in your Christian walk be discouraging others around you without you realizing it?
3. Like John Mark, is there an area of Gospel service you have stepped back from that the Spirit may be calling you to re-engage with?

Scripture Focus: Colossians 4:7–11 introduces faithful Gospel participants whose character models what every believer should aspire to. Colossians 1:21–23 grounds the call to steadfast continuance in the faith. Philemon 10–16 and 2 Timothy 4:11 trace John Mark’s redemptive transformation from deserter to profitable servant.

Outline

• Introduction
• The Gospel Mission Requires Continuers
• Paul’s Network of Gospel Partners
• The Information Squad: Letter Carriers
• Tychicus: Beloved Brother and Faithful Servant
• The Bond Slave of Christ
• Onesimus: From Runaway to Faithful Brother
• The Encouragement Squad: Jewish Supporters
• Aristarchus and Justus
• John Mark: Delayed Encouragement
• The Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
• Mark Redeemed: From Deserter to Gospel Writer
• Encouragement vs. Discouragement

Introduction

Let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Colossians. I’ll be preaching this message and next week in Colossians, and then I’ll be finished with Colossians. Then I plan on going to Philemon, because Colossians is connected to Philemon.

Just a few messages there. Then my plan is to go to Revelation and do Revelation. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that, but there are a lot of questions today about it. We notice in our membership applications that people don’t know anything about eschatology.

That’s understandable. If you never heard it, then how could you? That’s my plan. Then Pastor Dave will continue to do the Gospel of John. Both are written by John—Revelation and the Gospel.

Let’s pray and we’ll look at Colossians. Lord, this morning as we get into your Word and look at what it says in the final greetings of Paul to the church at Colossae, I pray that you would allow us to see ourselves in some of these people.

I pray that we would realize that all of us, everyone who’s called in the name of Jesus Christ, are all to participate in the Gospel mission. There’s no one who can sit in the pews and just fold their arms.

There’s no one who is in the stands. We’re all in the game. I pray, Lord, that you would always make it clear to us where in that mission we function the best. I pray that you would make us people who have the character and conduct that can be used by the Spirit of God.

I pray this morning, asking you to help us and guide us and give us clarity in your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen. We’re going to look at Colossians 4:7-11. But let me back up a little bit.

The Gospel Mission Requires Continuers

I’ve been saying that a Spirit-filled, Word-filled Christian will begin to see the transformational power of the Gospel in each part of their experience as they journey through this world with its ups and downs, its ins and outs. As they see that transformation, they will realize the only reason they have transformation is because they have believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God now indwells them, and He is gradually making them into Christ.

He’s gradually making them into the image of Christ. It starts the instant we are justified, and it’s not complete until we get to glory. This Gospel transformation is revealed in our conduct, in character, in our putting off sin and putting on righteousness.

It shows us that we’re putting off our dirty clothes and putting on the clothes of redeemed children. It’s revealed in our relationships, in our everyday walk, in marriages between wives and husbands, in families between children and parents, in our conduct and in our speech.

We notice it in what we are now devoted to, how we use our time and opportunities, and how we see and consider one another. This Lord’s Day, we will see the transformation of the Gospel in the Christian’s duty and performance—that is, the faithful group participation of the saints to the Gospel mission.

“There’s no one who is in the stands. We’re all in the game.”

Paul’s Network of Gospel Partners

No one could do this work alone, no one can. That’s really what Paul brings out in this last section of Colossians. He had to depend on a lot of people to make sure everything got done.

But what kind of people? There were certain kinds of people that he used—all right, not perfect. None of these people are perfect, but he used them.

We see that the Gospel was never meant to stay in one place or to be confined. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message that is to be sent out, and to be sent out by people.

That means the faithfulness of the Gospel, the advancement of the Gospel is always maintained. The letter of the Colossians was read publicly in order to have an impact beyond its immediate audience. Like it says in Colossians 4:16, “When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the Church of the Laodiceans. And for you, for your part, read my letter that is coming from Laodicea.”

There’s an interaction between churches to advance the message and to advance the growth of those people who participate in the gospel. Even Paul, the Apostle Paul’s chains and imprisonment—which he’s writing this epistle from—he’s in jail for the gospel. He’s doing it all for the sake of the gospel.

As he says in Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.” Paul is doing this for the sake of the advancement of the gospel. He ends the epistle in Colossians 4:18, saying, “Remember my imprisonment.”

The Apostle Paul was apprehended in Jerusalem and brought to Rome. While he was imprisoned in Rome, he was allowed to live by himself with minimal soldiers guarding him. In fact, Paul was able to receive visitors while he was in Rome. He was able to teach and preach the gospel while he was in Rome.

He wrote four letters to the churches while in Rome: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Rome is also where Paul’s mission ended. He was beheaded as a martyr in Rome. When God was done with him, that was it, right?

But he used Paul to the fullest, right? We would think that someone in jail couldn’t do anything. But that’s not the case. In that prison cell, he was protected by guards. He was given food, he was given visitors. It was almost like an apartment—not like we would see today, but a place where he could do his work.

He could minister and use his gifts to advance the gospel. That’s what God has intended, right? Remember when Paul went before some of the people and he was tried, they said, “Listen, if he didn’t appeal to Caesar in Rome, he’d be a free man.” But it was God’s will that he would go to Rome.

The reason why is because Paul would do his most important work there. In the closing greetings here in Colossians, Paul mentions ten people who were, in their own right, faithful participants to the gospel mission. This means that the church, the body of Christ, each individual believer who was indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God is called to carry out the unfinished work of Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus didn’t finish the work. Paul didn’t finish the work. In fact, today this work is still not done. People are still getting saved, the gospel’s still going out all over the world. Believers are continuers of Christ’s work.

“Believers are continuers of Christ’s work. Today this work is still not done—people are still getting saved.”

Now there’s a lot of material available on motivation to get started, creative ways to spark initiative. But what about the material about continuing and sticking with something until it’s done? Hanging tough when the excitement and fun has faded into discipline and guts?

That’s the kind of believers we actually need. Not losing heart even though the project lost some of its appeal and people dropped off that you originally started with. It was a book that was written by Eugene Peterson. The name of the book was “Obedience in the Same Direction.”

He commented in that book, “Our attention span has been conditioned by thirty-second sound bites so that our sense of reality has been flattened to thirty-page abridgements. It’s not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel. It is terribly difficult to sustain that interest.”

Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. In our kind of culture, anything—even news about God—can be sold and packaged in the right, in a fresh way. But when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap just like everything else.

There is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for the long apprenticeship in what earlier generational Christians called holiness and godliness. It takes a long time for the Spirit of God to make us holy. It is a long-distance run, not a short sprint.

That’s the Christian life, right? It’s got its ups and downs. Today, let’s understand that we are continuers for Christ. All Christians should check their priorities and tighten down the hatch for the long haul.

We do that together, not alone. Together. For sure, we can have a lot of meaningful experiences serving the Lord Jesus Christ together, as we already have in the process of God moving us in levels of spiritual growth and interacting with people, sharing the gospel, and discipling people.

All those things are very meaningful and very helpful and advance the church. In this end greeting, it shows the interdependence of believers insufficient in themselves. But as a body, as the body of Christ, they become holy without blemish and blameless before Christ and a formidable, steadfast force for gospel expansion.

“It takes a long time for the Spirit of God to make us holy. It is a long-distance run, not a short sprint.”

Now, if you just go back to chapter 1 for a minute, look at verses 21 through 23. I want to show you something in that passage. Colossians 1:21 says, “Although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless beyond reproach.”

Then notice verse 23: “If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

Human insufficiency is acknowledged alongside the all-sufficiency of Christ. We all participate in the gospel mission. Are you doing that? We’re presented this morning with living examples, and these living examples are models for all believers to follow—all kinds of different people here.

You will see that the character of these Christians are noteworthy. They are people from all walks of life, but they should be people that we model ourselves after. The question that we can ask ourselves as we think of these groups of people is this:

“Could such things be said of me that are said about these gospel participants?”

The Information Squad: Letter Carriers

That’s what we want to ask ourselves. Well, let me just give you where I’m going, and then we’ll get down to the details here. This is what we’re going to see.

We’re going to see two letter carriers. I call them the information squad. Then we see two Jewish supporters. I call them the encouragement squad. Then we’re going to see three Gentile coworkers. I call them the warrior squad. And then we’re going to see two local Christians, and I call them the hospitality future ministry squad.

Now, today we’re just going to be looking at the first two groups. The first group is going to be that of the letter-carrying squad or the information squad. I want you to notice in Colossians 4:7, it says this.

This is the first letter carrier, and this is Tychicus. Now, some people have pronounced it Tychicus, but I went to the Greek, and I said, listen, the only way I’m going to figure out how to pronounce this name is how the Greek actually pronounces it. And it’s Tychicus.

This person was Paul’s partner on his third missionary journey and he was a native of Rome in the province of Asia. When Paul left Ephesus he was accompanied by seven other believers among them Tychicus. It says back in Acts 20 he was accompanied by Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus and then one other man.

These men were helping Paul deliver the love offering from the Gentile churches to the poor saints in Judea. Eventually Tychicus shared Paul’s imprisonment and was a great help to him in many ways.

Now if somebody’s going to bring information to you, especially during these days, we know we have information overload. How do you know if the information you get when you read here and there on different media sites is actually true? It’s very hard to actually find out because people don’t even document what they say today.

So when information is going to come to somebody, you have to have someone who has great character, someone who is strong, who’s a leader, who’s going to carry out the mission.

Tychicus: Beloved Brother and Faithful Servant

And this is the mission that Paul gave to him: to carry this letter to the church at Ephesus and the church at Colossae. But notice what it says here about his character in Colossians 4:7.

It says, “As to all my affairs—now that’s Paul’s affairs—Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bondservant of the Lord will bring you information.” So that’s what his job is: to bring information. But why would you pile up the character qualities?

Well, because the people who are receiving what he has—the information that he has—they have to know it’s not disinformation, right? That it’s not fake news, but it’s accurate truth about Paul’s ministry so the people know how to pray for him and meet his needs.

That’s why the information is so important. But look what it says about him, his character: our beloved brother. Now why is he a beloved brother? Because he was connected to this new family because of his faith in Jesus Christ.

He was the kind of brother in Christ who was willing to stay with Paul even in his difficult situation. It’s not easy to be associated with a jailbird because Paul had a lot of enemies—a lot of enemies who wanted to kill him.

If you link yourself to him, you’re a target too. And so he didn’t really care about that. He just went on and did what he had to do. This is the kind of brother you want in your family.

This is the kind of brother you want in your foxhole. When the bullets start flying, you want Tychicus with you because he’s the kind of brother that’s not going to run when the times get tough.

How encouraging to have a Christian at your side when everything seems to be against you. He did not take the easy way, but he did take the right way. And the right way is usually the hard way.

“He did not take the easy way, but he did take the right way. And the right way is usually the hard way.”

And it’s usually the way many times that you may walk alone. So he is a beloved brother. And then secondly, it says he’s a faithful servant, meaning that he was a worker. He rendered dependable help wherever it was needed.

The Bond Slave of Christ

And then it says also he was a fellow bondservant or slave in the Lord. A minister, in other words, who related in service together under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Remember, if you recall when we were looking at and discussing bondslaves, bondslaves were willing to give up their rights.

They were willing to be defrauded. They were willing to endure hardship. They were willing to have no rank or titles. They were willing even to lose their life. Isn’t that what happens when we become real Christians? We move from being slaves to sin to being slaves to righteousness because we are now enslaved to God, a good and loving master.

If we consider ourselves willing bondslaves of Jesus Christ, no matter what we are to do or wherever we are going to end up, there is a certain behavior and demeanor for our earthly mission.

We already learned that Colossians gave three important things about bondslaves. Number one, bondslaves of Christ are to do their work with obedience. In Colossians 3:22, it says, “Slaves in all things obey.”

Second, bondslaves in Christ are to do their work from a single and sincere heart. As it says in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men.”

Third, a bondslave of Christ has an inheritance. Slaves really don’t have an inheritance, nor are they in the place to receive an inheritance. However, unless you are Christ’s slaves, then it says in Colossians 3:24, “Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

That means as you go out and serve, as you become a bondslave, it is the inheritance that believers will receive a fair recompense for their faithful service. The slave of Christ has an unceasing line of thought that looks past this earthly life with all its difficulties and looks beyond their immediate circumstance to the Lord and his reward.

As Paul told the Galatians, “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God.” The promise of an inheritance for slaves transforms their status to those who are legitimate heirs in the household of God.

That’s a great motivation to keep going, to know that this life is not the end and the Lord has something for us, not only in this life but in the life to come—an inheritance that we are to receive.

“The slave of Christ looks past this earthly life to the Lord and his reward—an inheritance yet to be received.”

Now look at his mission in Colossians 4. Notice verse 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.”

The message that was coming back from Paul was to encourage them, to lift them up, to comfort them. They were functioning as mailmen, bringing the letter to the Ephesian church and the Colossian church.

Tychicus was this strong, faithful, dependable leader that made sure the mission was accomplished. That’s the kind of person you want to dispel such important information like the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how the Gospel was doing things all over the place, not just in your local area.

It was doing things all over the known world at that time. That was very important information for the Colossians and the Ephesians to know. Their little community churches weren’t alone in this. God was doing something all over the place.

“The Colossians weren’t alone. God was doing something all over the place—building his church through people like Tychicus.”

Onesimus: From Runaway to Faithful Brother

God was doing something. He was building his church and he was using people like Tychicus to do it. And then a second letter carrier we notice in our text in Colossians 4:9 is Onesimus. Now Onesimus, who is he?

He was a runaway slave. It says in verse 9, the past character of Onesimus was dubious. He was unfaithful to his master and bolted to get his freedom. And he ends up in prison right by Paul.

If you’re going to end up in jail, end up in jail in a place with somebody like Paul, the apostle Paul. That’s where he ends up.

He was a runaway slave who belonged to Philemon and who had been won to Christ through Paul’s ministry in Rome. I guess that’s one place that when I was on an aircraft carrier and I became a Christian in Rota, Spain, there’s not many places to go when you’re at sea.

When you have a Bible study, you really get locked in and you spend a lot of your time studying the Word of God. I thank the Lord for that. It was kind of like being in prison. There was nowhere to go, but I really got established in the basics of the faith there.

That always helped me just to continue to build on that. And here we see Onesimus, who has a dubious past, meets Paul. What does Paul say about him? He could only say this about him if there was a change in his character and demeanor that Paul recognized after coming to Christ.

It says he’s faithful. He says here, “a faithful and beloved brother.” That means he was trustworthy. He was full of faith and he was very much loved by the Apostle Paul.

And then he says this: he’s one of your number. Meaning that at one time, none of us were part of the number of the Christian body, right? We were outside that number. Now we’re in the number.

Paul says he wasn’t one of your number, but now he’s one of us. He’s one of us. He not necessarily delivers the same information that Tychicus was delivering. He was delivering his own letter to his former owner.

Their mission together was to distribute information that encourages its recipients. As it says in the passage that I just read, “they will inform you about my whole situation here.” Now, what was that whole situation? That whole situation was how he met Onesimus and how he discovered where Onesimus was and that he was a runaway slave and that now he was incarcerated with Paul and a whole thing had to be done and put together.

So Paul sent Onesimus back to his master with a letter to Philemon. What was that letter? What did that letter say? Philemon, please receive him as I did. Please forgive him as I have. Please forgive him as God has.

That could have been a very touchy situation. But if you would like to turn to Philemon—which is 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus, Philemon—look there in Philemon. There’s only one chapter, but it says in Philemon 1:10, “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment.”

That’s language that Paul is saying: I’m the spiritual father of Onesimus. I shared the gospel with him and I begot him as a spiritual child. That’s what he is saying to him. And he said that happened in my imprisonment.

Then in Philemon 1:11, it says, “who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.” And then look at Philemon 1:16. It says, “no longer a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”

That’s very interesting how he puts it like that. We’ll look at that when I get to Philemon. But today we see that this is the situation. Philemon is delivering the letter to his own master saying, listen, this is what Paul says about me.

This is what happened to me. And here’s all the evidence. That becomes a very important thing. In a very real way, we all understand what it means to be a slave, at least a slave to sin, right?

You are in bondage to your sin nature. People say free will. No, your will’s in bondage to what your sinful nature dictates. To be set free not only physically but spiritually is an important part of the Christian walk.

“To be set free not only physically but spiritually is an important part of the Christian walk.”

The Encouragement Squad: Jewish Supporters

Those are the ones that we see this morning who were mail carriers. They were reliable, loving brothers in the Lord.

The second thing that we’ll notice this morning back in Colossians 4:10-11 are three Jewish supporters.

Aristarchus and Justus

Three Jewish supporters. I call them the encouragement squad. Not only could Tychicus and Philemon be part of that squad, but we have here, first of all, in verse 10, Aristarchus. Aristarchus was Paul’s traveling companion. He was also a fellow prisoner.

Most likely he was a prisoner with Paul in Ephesus and also in Rome. He was definitely someone who was willing to suffer that with Paul. It says in verse 10, “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings.”

He was with Paul during the riot in Ephesus. If you remember in that particular riot, as is recorded in the book of Acts, it says that the whole area was filling with confusion and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.

He got dragged into this situation in which people were rioting. That happened in Ephesus, in the Ephesian area. This particular man was willing to experience with Paul the most difficult times of ministry.

When you preach the gospel and hostility breaks out and you don’t run for the hills, you end up getting dragged into jail. That all worked out, and Paul was even held back from getting involved with that because they knew they would probably just kill him and he wasn’t ready to be killed.

Back in Colossians 4:10, we see another person. If you go down to verse 11, I’m going to look at the next one first, Justus, and come back to Mark because I want to spend some time with Mark and let you know who he is.

In verse 11 of chapter 4, it says, “And also Jesus who is called Justus, these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.”

Again, these individuals have this demeanor of encouraging people. Not just by their words, but by who they are, by their conduct. Justus is the Greek form of his Jewish name, Jesus, and his Latin name, Justus, also means a soothing medicine.

The word that we have for encouragement in the passage here actually means to bring comfort or to bring a soothing environment. It’s a blessing to have Christians who have a proven comforting effect on people. Not for the purpose of self gratification, but for the purpose, as it says here, for the growth of the kingdom of God.

“It’s a blessing to have Christians who have a proven comforting effect on people—for the growth of the kingdom of God.”

That means that this person must know what they believe, they must know what the mission is, and they must be faithful to that mission. They also come into a group of people and they comfort them, they encourage them, they prod them on to love and good works.

You have this whole squad of encouragement coming from Aristarchus and Justus into the church at Colossians and Ephesians. Then we go back to verse 10 and we see this: “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner sends you his greetings, also Barnabas’s cousin Mark, about whom you received instructions. If he comes to you, welcome him.”

All of us from time to time have experienced painful incidents, right? In some ways they changed us. For some of us, it even altered the direction of our lives. But often, for Christians, it has been a time of serious spiritual growth and maturity in Christlikeness.

Those events come into your life, and you start taking things way more seriously than you ever have. You begin to realize this is no game. This is something to be, this is the most serious life that anyone could ever live on this earth.

Not only that, but I am actually responsible for other people. Not just as an elder or as a deacon, but just as somebody who has participated in the gospel. You’re responsible for the person next to you, and the person in front of you, and behind you—how you live, how your character and conduct comes forth.

This painful incident that I’m going to mention from Acts 15 that we read this morning shows us that all of us need much more work to be done on us in order for us to grow in Christlikeness, in order for us to respond properly to things.

“Those events come into your life and you start taking things way more seriously. This is the most serious life anyone could ever live.”

John Mark: Delayed Encouragement

And within the particular twists and turns of life, while we’re dealing with that, desiring to live in a manner which is pleasing to the Lord, both things are going on at the same time. Well, if you just take your Bibles for a minute, turn back to the book of Acts, and I want you to notice some things that happen concerning Mark.

Because Mark is an interesting character. I put him in the squad of encouragement, but I say this about Mark: delayed encouragement. Because he had to learn a lot of things before he actually could encourage people.

Back in Acts 15:34, notice it says, “But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.” And then Acts 15:35 says, “But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching with many others also the word of the Lord.”

After some days, Paul and Barnabas said, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are.” So Paul and Barnabas want to go back to the other churches that they’ve already ministered in and see how they’re doing.

All right, now notice in verse 37 of Acts 15, it says, “But Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.” And then in verse 38, “But Paul insisted that he did not want to take John Mark.”

Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along. Why? Because he deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone back with them to the work. Now, I don’t know about you, but that is very discouraging when something like that happens.

And Paul, because really past performance reveals character, right? It serves as a basis for judging stability for future service. So Paul did not want to risk a reoccurrence of this failure to hang tough for the sake of the most important work on earth: preaching the gospel and going back and strengthening the churches.

So he decided that at this time, John Mark was not fit for the difficult task. He proved to be a quitter. Now, let me refresh your memory concerning this past incident. It took place on Paul’s and Barnabas’ first missionary journey.

And in chapter 13, you don’t have to turn there, it says, “Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John left them and returned to Jerusalem.” But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidia, Antioch.

So Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark had good ministry together on the island of Cyprus, and the Holy Spirit was directing them north toward Pisidian Antioch, which is really modern-day Turkey. It was about 150 miles by boat to the coast of Asia Minor, and then once they got off the boat, they were to travel through the most dangerous, rugged mountains of that region where it was known that notorious ambushes and bandits and robbers were there constantly.

Now, Scripture tells us that the young assistant, John Mark, deserted Paul and went back home to Jerusalem. It was clear that other considerations could have caused him to leave the great work, but the Word of God does not really tell us why he left.

Some have speculated as to the reasons why he took off and went running home. Mark was young. His mother’s house seemed to have been the center of the Jerusalem church. Paul and Barnabas took him with them on their first missionary journey, and Mark was a relative of Barnabas.

And in the middle of the journey, he turned and hightailed it home. Now, it was one commentator who ventured off into some speculation, and he said, “Well, why did he take off?” Well, he says perhaps he was afraid of the proposed journey up into the plateau of Antioch, for it was one of the hardest, most dangerous roads in the world, and he knew it.

Also, perhaps because he came from Jerusalem, he had his doubts about preaching to the Gentiles. Also, perhaps at this stage he was one of those who are better at beginning things than finishing things. Or actually, historically, the church father Chrysostom said long ago, the lad wanted to go home to mommy.

The Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

But whatever the reason was, he deserted. He deserted. And what happened? Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement right back in Acts 15:39, right? A sharp disagreement.

Now, remember, these were not cheap men with hot tempers and razor tongues that easily spewed insults and bitter words towards each other. That’s not what took place here. These are men who were controlled by the Holy Spirit and filled with wisdom and passion for the work of God to see the church expand and grow and be strengthened.

Yes, both Paul and Barnabas were men of strong characters and convictions. In fact, Barnabas was known to be the son of encouragement. Only this time their convictions were opposite and proved to be incompatible. And the only solution was separation from each other. That is what they agreed to do.

But it also gives us a bit of a lesson here. It is possible for Christians to disagree with one another on certain things and to do it in a way that is honorable and that keeps the relationship intact.

So it tells us in Acts 15:39, and they separated from one another. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to Cyprus and Paul chose Silas and left. So God doubled the workforce through this separation. Paul and Silas—Silas took the place of Barnabas, not John Mark.

Silas was faithful, proven to be a leader in the church. He was also a dispenser of divine revelation, known to be a prophet, and he knew how to handle the word of God. Barnabas, because he was the relative of John Mark and the man of encouragement, I think he’s mentioned in Scripture as to be the son of thunder too, they split company with each other over at least this event.

And it’s possible, again, to agree and disagree without losing your testimony or your usefulness. Past history could disqualify you for present opportunities, but it doesn’t need to be like that. It is possible to overcome the stigma of past sins by living a holy life in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

“It is possible for Christians to disagree with one another and do it in a way that keeps the relationship intact.”

So all of us are rescuable. There’s no Christian who needs to stay the way they are. It is not easy to overcome the title of deserter—someone who leaves his post for no good reason. In fact, if it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit of God’s work of sanctifying each and every one of us, we could never be able to remove the stigma of our past, present, and future sins.

“Past history could disqualify you for present opportunities, but it doesn’t need to be like that. All of us are rescuable.”

Mark Redeemed: From Deserter to Gospel Writer

Only God can do that and keep you a testimony and keep you a significant participant in the gospel mission. Whatever happened to Mark and Paul, we really don’t know what happened to Mark during this separation. He did go to Barnabas.

What we do know is that the Holy Spirit of God never stopped working on all of them, and he continues to sanctify and grow his children to bear the image of Jesus Christ. Even though we are flawed and weak and inconsistent vessels of baked dirt, with remaining corruption, God continues to advance his church.

There is hope that each one of us is needed and useful for our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Tradition tells us that after this event, Mark kind of vanishes off the scene. At least we don’t hear anything about him for some 20 years.

It’s a long time. Some sources say that he founded a church in Alexandria and in Egypt. One thing that is for sure is that the Holy Spirit of God moved him from being a child to a mature Christian, from being someone who was useless to someone who was very useful.

That’s why I say delayed encouragement, because Mark is a lot like us. We have those ups and downs and all arounds in the Christian life, right? Sometimes we back off, and we’re kind of like we want to be invisible, and we don’t want to be involved anymore.

You ever feel that way? You want to kind of just be left alone, all right? There are times that I’ve gone through those times. I know you do too. But the Spirit of God doesn’t leave you alone. He says, no, no, you need to get back into the race there, brother.

You need to, sister, you need to get back in there, all right? Use your gifts, because you are part of this group of people that are going to encourage other people to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, if you look back to Colossians 4:10, notice what it says here. Mark became a serious worker. It says, “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark, about whom you received instruction. If he comes to you, welcome him.”

What was that instruction? Most likely, everybody heard that Mark deserted me, but that’s all changed. The reason why is because nobody can fight a war alone.

Even Mark could not fight this war alone. It’s ridiculous to even think that way as a Christian. To fight a battle which you intend to win, you need many, really a multifaceted, loyal workforce who know their mission objectives and have counted the cost.

If we look back at Philemon, Mark became a synergistic worker. It says there in Philemon, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greet you as do Mark,” and then it says, “my fellow workers.” So it uses the word fellow worker for Mark.

That word in the Greek is really a word that we get synergism from, meaning a helper or someone who has learned to work together with other servants in order to get the greater work done, which is the gospel.

He learned to work together with other people. This can give us a sense of what his problem was. He could have been a young man filled with pride, thought he knew better. Now the Spirit of God leveled him off, and now he is profitable.

Now, if you’d like to take your Bibles, turn to 2 Timothy 4. This is a very interesting verse about him. Mark became a profitable worker. In 2 Timothy 4:11, it says, “Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”

He not only became useful to Paul in his work, but to God and to the greater church. Even today, it’s because of John Mark who was used by the Holy Spirit of God to pen the gospel of Mark.

What is the overall theme of the gospel of Mark? Jesus Christ is servant. He learned his lesson about being a servant from the greatest servant of all, the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why he could pen such a verse as Mark 10:45.

Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”

By the grace of God, the man who once was a deserter, a discourager of believers, became a writer of the gospel and an encourager of believers.

And at the end, Paul wanted him by his side. See, that could be any one of us. Any one of us could have been any of these people. I hope you saw some of yourself in one of them.

Encouragement vs. Discouragement

But he ends his greeting wanting us to focus on who these people were, because we’re just like them. That means all of us, if you can see yourself in any one of these characters—good or bad—because we are to be part of this group participation in the gospel mission, you are to do something for the Lord.

The goal is to be an encourager by your manner of life, to be an encouragement because it is your desire to please the Lord and become like Christ. You want to allow people to see that, and you surely do not want to be a discourager.

It’s really easy to discourage people. One way you do it is just by being inconsistent. You’re not consistent in coming regularly with believers. You’re not consistent in serving the church body in some way with the use of your spiritual gift.

You’re not participating and practicing a godly, holy lifestyle. You’re just not dependable. That’s got to change. I believe the Spirit of God is going to change that.

What is the greatest tool in Satan’s toolbox? Discouragement.

I ran across this story titled “The Devil’s Favorite Tool.” The devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices. They were a fiendish lot: hatred, jealousy, deceit, lying, pride—all at expensive prices.

But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than the others. It was also the most costly. It was labeled discouragement.

When questioned, the devil said, “It is more useful to me than any other tool. When I can’t bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement because so few people realize it belongs to me.”

So let’s not discourage each other. Let’s encourage each other by our Christian growth, our usefulness in the advancement of the gospel and the church, and our ability to comfort people and prod them on in a good way to keep serving the Lord and don’t quit.

“Let’s encourage each other by our Christian growth, our usefulness in the gospel, and our ability to comfort people—and don’t quit.”

We’re in it for the long haul. Those are the first two groups. Next week, the next two. Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you this morning for the examples that were before us, knowing that in each one of these groups of people, we can see ourselves. We can see the flaws. We can see the times that we wanted to desert, we wanted to step aside, or we thought of ourselves as unusable because of something that happened in our life.

But Lord, we know by your Spirit that you are making us like you. We want to give ourselves to that sanctifying process. We surely don’t want to resist the Spirit of God in this matter, but we want to be people, as Colossians says, to learn how to please you in all things, knowing that you are our Master and Lord.

We want to be servants that are faithful, servants that are dependable, servants that are encouraging to others by our very conduct, our manner of life, by our very speech, and how we grow in Christ.

I pray that you would do that in every single one of us. Lord, the gospel mission is not hindered or left just to a few to accomplish. I pray this morning in the precious name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.