I Count it all Joy - Colossians 1:24-29
Colossians • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 34 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
In opening this morning let’s think of a time in which we had the unpopular opinion in a crowd of individuals.
Maybe it was a serious topic but in hopes of staying lighthearted in our opening I thought of pizza toppings. Most of us have heard the common debate “does pineapple belong on pizza?”.
A side note on that is it definitely doesn’t belong on pizza but in hopes of expounding our point this morning let’s say it does belong on pizza in your eyes and you are in a room full of pineapple hating people such as myself.
If you ordered the pizza and got pineapples on it when you got the pizza the others who are with you would be quite angry and it would likely even cause an uproar among you and your fellow pizza eaters.
In fact, in some context of the definition you could be very loosely say we received persecution for your love of pineapple on pizza.
Now I wouldn’t call being slightly teased for your love of pineapple true persecution, but it does happen in the same way.
See maybe those who don’t want pineapple on pizza have never even tried it as a topping.
Or maybe someone else told them pineapple on pizza wasn’t very good so they never even considered it an option.
Maybe they’ve not given it a chance. This doesn’t mean we should feel regret or hurt because our friends don’t enjoy the pineapple as much as we do it simply means we will continue to enjoy pineapple on pizza and occasionally try to convince them to give it a try.
In our continuation of Colossians, we get to see how Paul found joy in his persecution for the gospel and why our hardships are an opportunity to grow our ministry and our lives in Christ.
See much like the pizza topping story Paul was not liked because he was a minister to the word of Christ but his persecution can be stated to be much more intense.
In fact, he was imprisoned for his belief in Christ. Let’s not take my word for it though, lets listen to Paul’s direct words this morning.
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
Isn’t it some reassuring word from the gospel message that Paul can find joy in the hardship of prison.
Let’s dig deeper into the word for a few moments.
Opening up Paul states “rejoice in my sufferings for you”
in other words Paul is saying “I consider it joy that I can be imprisoned on behalf of the church and for my belief in christ”
Paul considered it a great honor that he had done something that would anger the unsaved so badly that they would imprison him for the words he said and life he live.
He was telling Colosse I suffer on your behalf and I do it with joy on behalf of the church
See paul knew that as a Christian persecution was not only expected, it was inevitable
He counted this joy for two reason.
1. His suffering is a direct indication that he is living his life for Christ.
2. He has his hope on the kingdom and knows this suffering is only part of his calling.
Mostly, Paul can count his imprisonment joy because of verse 25.
Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
In other words he can ind joy because he knows his suffering is part of his ministry and his ministry is his only reason for being here.
See Paul knows it is he obligation to preach the word.
He says he is in the ministry to fulfill the word of God. Basically he is saying I am here with one intent to tell the world about the word of God
Not just the word but more specifically the salvation message in the word
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
He refers to it as this mystery but in the last 4 words he explains what this mystery is
“The hope of Glory”
So now in being even more specific we can go in this pattern
1.Paul finds it joy to be suffering on behalf of the church.
2. Paul knows his suffering is built around the fact he preaches the gospel.
3.Paul knows that his specific command as a Christian is to preach the salvation message despite persecution.
Basically the message had been hidden cause no one would speak it but because of the saints speaking this message it has been brought to light.
You may have some friends out there who still to this day see the truth of the gospel as a mystery
It is your duty my friend to bring it to light before them.
Paul closes out chapter 1 reiterating the point we already know.
He says
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
This message that was a mystery we now preach faithfully
Why do we do this, “to warn every man, and teach every man in wisdom.”
We live our entire lives upon salvation with one mission “That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”
And we do this by verse 29 which is to “labour in the work of the Lord, knowing he is working in us”
So I ask the question “do you know the Lord is working in you?”
If you know the Lord is working in you then you can do as Paul had done
You can faithfully teach and preach the gospel (which is your responsibility as a Christian” knowing that he is doing great works in you not only despite your persecution but through your persecution.
You can count it joy when hardships come and persecution comes because your life is founded on the single mission of the gospel message.
But what if you haven’t made a commitment to that gospel message?
What if you are living a life apart from Christ?
See Pauls words are multi functional for us this morning
Meaning they carry a message for the saved and the unsaved
For the saved we have heard it “We live our life in joy no matter the circumstance, preaching the gospel, knowing that Christ is doing a great work in and through us” That is our calling from the word this morning
for the unsaved Paul said in verse 27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
We’ve read it multiple times but once again in case you missed it
What’s the mission of Paul preaching the gospel? it is to “male known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”
Paul seeks to make known the hope of glory
Lets talk about the riches and the hope in glory for just a moment before we close
The riches aren’t earthly riches nor is the joy earthly glory.
I can guarantee you that as an unsaved human you carry around so much weight on your shoulder
You have no one to give the pain to
However, upon salvation you can have riches and glory by knowing where your soul rests
See when we have spiritual security in Christ we can have a thing called peace even in pain.
Why peace, peace comes because we know Christ has locked his saints and secured his saints into a kingdom home with him one day.
When you are saved troubles don’t go away but you have somewhere to take them and you always have a hope that is larger then your troubles. .