God Has Given You Ministers for Your Maturity in Christ.

Why has God given you pastors? Have you ever wondered that? Why has God given you Citygroup leaders, Citylight Institute teachers, and other servants in the church who do intentional spiritual good to you? What’s the goal of it all? Why has God given you ministers?

I raise the question because in our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul tells the Colossian Church why God made him a minister, or servant, to the church. And that raises the question: why has God given ministers to you? Notice what Paul says about himself in Colossians 1:24-25a – Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, [25] of which I became a minister [servant]… That word minister, or servant, is different from the word Paul often uses to describe himself, which is “apostle.” “Apostle” is a more exclusive group of men who were directly commissioned by the risen Christ to speak for him. In Colossians, Paul only refers to himself as an Apostle. On the other hand, throughout Colossians, Paul uses this word “minister” more liberally. For example, in Colossians 1:8, Paul calls Epaphras, the man who originally planted the church in Colossae, a faithful minister of Christ. Similarly, in Colossians 4:7, Paul will call Tychicus, a Christian leader we don’t know much about, a faithful minister and servant in the Lord. Here is my point: In our passage, Paul is talking about himself. He’s talking about why God gave him as a minister or servant to the church. However, what Paul says isn’t exclusive to himself. The reason why God gave Paul as a minister to the church is the same reason why God has given you elders, deacons, small group leaders, disciplers, and Christian leaders in your church. So, what’s the reason? Why has God given you ministers? Colossians 1:28 – Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: God has given you ministers for your maturity in Christ. God has given you ministers for your maturity. In light of the big idea of our passage, this morning we’re going to consider two questions, which are our two points. 1. How do ministers toil for your maturity in Christ? (1:24-29) 2. How can you toil with them for your maturity in Christ? (2:1-5).

HOW DO MINISTERS TOIL FOR YOUR MATURITY IN CHRIST?

How do we become mature in Christ? How do ministers toil for your maturity? I want to tell you the answer and then we’ll see it in our passage: Ministers toil for your maturity in Christ by making Christ fully known to you. The more you come to know Christ, all that He is and all that He’s done, from one end of the Bible to the other, the more you’ll become like Him. And that’s maturity; likeness to Christ. Ministers toil for your maturity in Christ by making Christ fully known to you. That’s the summary. Let’s see it in our passage together step-by-step. And stick with that step-by-step because once we see the answer in our passage we’ll consider the application to our lives. Ministers toil for your maturity by making Christ fully known to you. Let’s see it.

Colossians 1:24-25 – Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, [25] of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known. Let’s not rush past Paul’s statement that he rejoices in his suffering. What do you do when you suffer? What do you do when you face trials of various kinds? Some of us are angry in our suffering. Others of us are depressed and discouraged in our suffering. Still others are anxious and irritable in our suffering. Paul rejoices in his suffering. Why? Because his suffering was for the sake of the church, it was filling up what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of the church. Of course, Paul doesn’t mean that Christ’s sinless life, His atoning death on the cross, and His victorious resurrection & ascension are somehow insufficient to save his people from their sins. Rather, as NT Scholar Kevin McFadden’s explains, “…he means that the risen and ascended Christ is currently using ministers suffering ‘in the flesh,’ like Paul and Epaphras, to bring the church to full maturity (1:28; 4:12; cf. 1:22).” The ESV Study Bible says, “What was ‘lacking’ in Christ’s afflictions was the future suffering of all who (like Paul) will experience great affliction for the sake of the gospel…” Think of this a bit like how a master chef and a simple waiter work together in a restaurant. A waiter fills up what is lacking in the master chef’s cooking not because there is any defect in the dish. Rather, he fills up what is lacking in the cooking in that he labors to deliver the perfectly prepared dish to the table. In a similar way, Paul rejoiced in his suffering because his suffering was the means that the risen Christ used to mature his church (to bring the dish to the table). Suffering is simply part of the path that ministers have to go through in order to make Christ fully known to you. But we rejoice in our suffering because the destination – presenting you mature in Christ – is so glorious. Think of it this way. One of the benefits of living in Philadelphia is we’re a relatively short drive from the beach, or the shore as you natives call it. The beach is a wonderful destination. Almost everyone likes being at the beach. However, to arrive at the beautiful Jersey Shore you have to endure the suffering of driving through NJ. It’s just part of the deal. But as unpleasant as driving through NJ is, you can rejoice in the traffic because you know the suffering is purposeful; this is how you get to the shore. In the same way, ministers have to endure a lot of suffering to make the word of God fully known to you. But the destination is so wonderful, seeing you increasingly mature in Christ is so beautiful, that ministers rejoice in their suffering because it’s simply what we have to go to in order to get to make the word of God fully known to you. Ministers – whatever suffering you face in the process of making Christ fully known to the church, rejoice in it; it’s the road through NJ but it’s purposefully leading to the shore; maturity in Christ.

Now, what does Paul mean by this phrase, “the word of God”? Of course, the whole and every part of the Bible is the sufficient, clear, authoritative, and necessary word of God. However, that’s not precisely what Paul has in mind. When Paul says “word of God” he means “Christ from one end of the Bible to another.” Colossians 1:25b-27 – to make the word of God fully known, [26] the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. [27] To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The mystery that was dimly lit in the Old Testament, but has now been revealed to the saints, is that in union with Christ through faith, all people, Jewish and Gentile people, can have the certain hope that they will inherit the eternal land promised to Abraham; The New Heavens and the New Earth. The mystery previously hidden but now fully revealed is that Christ in you, no matter who you are, is the certain hope of eternal glory. By “hidden,” Paul means Christ was present, but dimly lit in the pages of the Old Testament, but is now seen in the light of noonday. As BB Warfield wrote, “The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted; the introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer view much of what is in it but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before…Thus the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the fuller revelation that follows it, but only perfected, extended and enlarged.” How beautiful it is to know Christ from all the Scriptures! So, ministers toil for your maturity in Christ by making Christ fully known to you…from one end of the Bible to another.

And that leads us to the crescendo of our passage; Paul’s one sentence for why God has given you ministers. Colossians 1:28 – Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. Ministers toil for your maturity in Christ by making Christ fully known to you from one end of the Bible to another. Not only do ministers of the church proclaim Christ for your initial conversion, but we warn you and teach you so that we can apply the transforming power of Jesus Christ to every part of your everyday life. Now, how can ministers possibly have the energy to do all that? How can ministers possibly have the energy to struggle for you in prayer against the world, the flesh, and the Devil? How can ministers possibly have the energy to write sermons, prepare classes, lead small groups, provide for discipleship, meet for counseling at all hours, confront sin, endure being misunderstood, and oversee every part of church life so that it’s properly structured to make Christ fully known to you? Ministers can only toil for your maturity in Christ by making Christ fully known to you in the energy that Christ provides. Colossians 1:29 – For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Being a servant to the church is hard toil and involves suffering, but ministers struggle with all his energy that he powerfully works within us. Ministers do their work in prayerfully reliance on our Lord who loves, as Isaiah 40 says, give power to the faint.

How do ministers toil for your maturity in Christ? They rejoice in suffering and struggle with all his energy to make Christ fully known to you from one end of the Bible to another because Christ in you is the hope of eternal glory and presenting you mature in Christ is the most glorious destination. Ok, so what do you do with that? Two ideas. First, know it so that you can pray for it. Know that ministers toil for your maturity in Christ by making Christ fully known to you, apply Him to every area of your life, so that you can pray for them. Now that you know what your ministers are meant to be doing, pray thoughtfully for your pastors, for your Citygroup leaders, and for those who disciple you. Know so that you can pray. Second, since you’re a Christian with a Bible, minister to each other. Toil, struggling with all Christ’s energy that you access through prayer, to make Christ fully known to each other. Warn and teach one another about how to apply all of Christ to all of life. Toil for one another’s maturity in Christ by making Christ fully known to one another so that we can all become more fully like Him. We all have a part to play. God has given you ministers for your maturity in Christ. Question one: How do ministers toil for your maturity? Answer: They toil to make Christ fully known to you so that you can apply his transforming power to all of life. What’s your next step to play in that? Question two…

HOW CAN YOU TOIL WITH THEM FOR YOUR MATURITY IN CHRIST?

In Colossians 2:1-5 Paul provides two ways that you can toil with your ministers for your maturity in Christ.

First, let your hearts be encouraged to grow in knowing Christ as true wisdom for life. Colossians 2:1-2a – For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, [2] that their hearts may be encouraged…The first way to partner with your ministers who toil to make Christ fully known to you is to allow their proclamation of Christ deep into your heart. In the Bible, the heart represents the inner person. Dr. Peter O’Brien writes, “‘Heart’ is employed in its customary OT sense denoting the inner life of the person, the center of his personality, understood as the source of will, emotion, thoughts and affections.” To toil with your ministers for your maturity in Christ, let your hearts be encouraged by us. But encouraged to what? Colossians 2:2-3 – that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, [3] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. To toil with your ministers for your maturity in Christ, take it deep into your heart when they make Christ fully known to you. Eagerly receive it into your heart when your ministers proclaim Christ to you, warning and teaching you. Open your hearts and let them be deeply encouraged to know Jesus Christ more and more as the one in whom all the wisdom of God is found. When your ministers proclaim all of Christ for all of your life from all the Bible, let it so deep into your hearts that you’re knit to each other in love and so that you press on to know Christ as all you need to be reconciled to God, to live pleasing to God, and to have wisdom for life. One great way to do this is to prayerfully prepare your heart any time you’re going to sit under a sermon, attend a class, learn in a seminar, or gather with your Citygroup, or go to discipleship group. Say to the Father, “I’m going to church now, I’m going to Citygroup now, I’m going to class or seminar now, I’m going to discipleship group now, I’m going to receive counsel from my pastor now, O God encourage my heart so that I’ll know and treasure Christ more as all I need for all of life. Apply the transforming power of Jesus Christ, revealed from one end of the Bible to another, to all of my life.” Pray on your way in and out!

The second way to toil with your ministers for your maturity in Christ is by not letting yourself be deluded by Christ-diminishing lies. Colossians 2:4-5 – I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. [5] For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. God gave you ministers to toil for your maturity by making Christ fully known to you so that your hearts are encouraged to know Christ as sufficient for all of life. You can partner with your ministers who toil with you for your maturity by not letting yourself be deluded by any Christ-dishonoring arguments and knowledge. So, what are Christ diminishing ideas? Any argument, any philosophy, any teaching, any podcast, any therapy, any religious teaching that says you need something in addition to Jesus Christ to be reconciled to God, glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Any argument that says you need Jesus + something to be healed, to be whole, to be happy, or to be fulfilled. Any argument that says you need Jesus + something in order to grow into living a life that pleases and is worthy of God. Instead of being deluded, cooperate with your ministers by seeking to know Christ fully. The best way to not be deluded is to remain firm in Christ. Seek to learn Christ fully. Delve into Christ. Pour your life into knowing him fully so that you can become fully like Him.