Joyful Strain

Colossians 2:1-5

1. Simple review of Colossians
   1. Paul had never met these people
   2. Apparently one of Paul’s disciples while he was in Ephesus had gone to Colossae, and perhaps down the Lychus Valley to Laodicea and started churches
      1. This disciple was named Epaphras
      2. Epaphras has come back to Paul, who by now was in Rome, with news about this church and concerns he had about them.
   3. The Colossian group that “assembled” in the home of Philemon were doing relatively well.
      1. However, there were ideas drifting around that had the potential of misleading and spoiling this church.
   4. So, Paul writes this letter to make a case to the supremacy of Christ, and, the vital nature of trusting Him as the source of all of life’s needs.
   5. He sent this letter from Rome by another of his disciples named Tychicus.

 

2. Thus far, Paul . . .
   1. Thanks God for these people (1:3-8)
   2. Prays for these people (1:9-14)
   3. Reminds them of the supremacy of Christ (1:15-20)
   4. Then, Paul brings some ministry heart and insights to these people (1:21-2:5)
      1. This “assembly” came at the cost of Christ’s death on the cross

 

Colossians 1:22

yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

 

 

1. Paul describes his ministry with two words, “rejoice” and “suffering”
   1. I will use the words, “joyful strain” to help us imagine this

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

 

 

3. In a time when our headlines include US air strikes on Syria and possible N Korean air strikes on Japan or the US, something more powerful is going on.
4. The gospel continues to spread among the nations of the earth.
5. Jesus purchased these people who believe in Him with His blood
6. And, He is using servants who suffer with joy to see this gospel spread

My Purpose This Morning

• To stir in us a heart that gladly invests in the mission of the church
  • o Because we have been purchased with blood
  • o “joy” and “strain” are where we are at our best!
    • Families
    • Front door
    • Fringe
    • Frontier
    • Far away

 

Joyful Strain

 

Colossians 2:1–5

¹For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,

²that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.

⁵For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

Notice in verse 1, he uses the word “struggle”

Then, in verse 5, he says he is actually “rejoicing” in this ministry

 

I have no doubt that in this room there are a disproportionate number of you who have some sense of ambition to be used by God to spread the message of Christ and to strengthen the faith of Christians.

 

My prayer is that our study of this passage will stir up even more of you to invest yourselves in this grand cause.

 

Paul says that he “rejoices”

Colossians 2:5

⁵For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

 

1. Paul is thrilled by the news from Epaphras that these young believers are demonstrating “good discipline” and “order” as a reflection of being reconciled to Christ
   1. That is what reconciliation means

 

2. He is also rejoicing to see how “firm” and “strong” their faith is.
   1. In the next sentence of this letter he will encourage them to keep at it.

Colossians 2:6–7

⁶Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

⁷having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Paul has no hesitation in letting them know how hard he works at this and what a strain it is.

Colossians 2:1

¹For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,

 

“struggle” – is the idea of hard work, or, straining to win in athletic games.

• There is a “sweaty” characteristic to this word

 

“ . . . on your behalf . . .” –  Paul is putting the needs and interests of others above his own needs.

 

My prayer is that “strain” will not cause us to back away from ministry. Instead, that as a church we gladly embrace and endure “strain” and “struggle” for the cause of Christ.

 

What should we struggle at?

Prayer

Colossians 4:12

¹²Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

 

 

• I assume that not only did Epaphras “always labor earnestly in his prayers” but, Paul did as well (1:9-12). It makes sense to me that these men “labored” together in prayer for these Colossians and Laodicea’s.
  • o River, let’s make a habit of praying together for the faith of our church, and, for the faith of those ministries we support

 

 

Discipling (teaching/training)

Colossians 1:28–29

²⁸We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

²⁹For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

 

Let’s do our best to teach and exhort in such a way that as many adults and children come to faith and grow in faith as possible

Now, let’s look at what Paul was concerned about for these Colossians

 

Colossians 2:2–3

“that their hearts may be encouraged . . .”  

 

1. “encouraged” – inward motivation
   1. This can range from “comfort” to “strength”
      1. “comfort” is arguably too weak. Paul is not imagining ‘tranquility’ as much as he is picturing “braced”
      2. The general sense, however, is “encouragement”

 

2. This “encouragement” is at a heart level
   1. Paul is imagining this encouragement being helped by his ministry, but ultimately produced by the Spirit of God

 

3. Growing as an encourager
   1. This is a “one another” ministry. All of us have a role and responsibility to build up others in the body
      1. 1 Thess 5:11

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing (NLT)

1. Ask God to teach you how to encourage others daily.
   1. Heb 3:13 …encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  (NIV)
2. Anticipate encouraging and being encouraged in your assemblies
   1. Heb 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another‑and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  (NIV)
3. Learn from your group’s strengths as encouragers, and learn from your mistakes

 

 

 “ . . . having been knit together in love . . .”  

1. Community is pictured as a broken bone that has healed
2. This love is at a heart level, as is the encouragement
   1. This goes beyond people getting along because they have things in common
   2. Rather, this is a love produced by the Holy Spirit among people
3. Growing in community[1]
   1. Move out of isolation
      1.  . . . and, make it safe for others to move out of isolation
   2. Become story tellers . . . and story listeners
   3. Embrace the mystery . . .
      1.  . . . of Christ working in the lives of others
      2. Christ is the ultimate ‘mystery,’ and He is active in the lives you are being bonded to.
         1. “ . . . Christ is all and in all . . .” (Colossians 3:11)
         2. Learn to watch for what Christ is developing in a person rather than what is wrong or annoying about that person.

 

“ . . . and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

1. This is the ultimate point that Paul wants to make. This is what the “joyful strain” is all about.
   1. Douglas Moo describes this as a “run on phrase”
2. The basic goal Paul has is “Christ Himself”
   1. Christ is described as a “mystery”
      1. Something that once was hidden but now has been brought into plain view
      2. Something we can understand, yet, is beyond understanding
   2. Paul wants these people to have a “true knowledge of God’s mystery”
   3. He wants them to “attain to all the wealth”
   4. He wants them to have a “full assurance of understanding”
   5. He wants them to live out of “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” that “are hidden” in Him.
3. Growing in Christ

Matthew 13:44

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

 

Hebrews 12:2–3

²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 

1. We “fix our eyes on Jesus”
   1. When we take the Lord’s Supper, we remember Him and His death on our behalf
   2. We bring grateful hearts
   3. We bring humble hearts
2. We remember that his “strain” was sustained by “joy”
3. In Him we find “joy” in our “suffering” for His cause and His church.

 

[1] Adapted from Mark S. Dorn, Accountability: Checklist or Relationship?