Colossians 1:24-29
A Good Shepherd
I. \\#1:1-2:23\\ Christ Exalted Through His Person and His Work
A. \\#1:1-12\\ Introduction
1. \\#1-2\\ Paul’s Salutation
2. \\#1:3-8\\ Paul’s Recognition
3. \\#1:9-11\\ Paul’s Prayer
B. \\#1:12-2:3\\ The Person of Christ
1. \\#1:12-14\\ Paul’s Thanks
2. \\#1:15-22\\ Paul’s Message
a. \\#15-17\\ Who Jesus is in Creation.
(1) \\#15\\ Jesus, the image of the invisible God.
(2) \\#15\\ Jesus, the firstborn of every creature.
(3) \\#16\\ Jesus, the Creator of all things.
(4) \\#17\\ Jesus, the One before all things.
(5) \\#17\\ Jesus, the One by whom all things consist.
b. \\#18-21\\ Who Jesus is in the church
(1) \\#18\\ Jesus, the Head of the body.
(2) \\#18\\ Jesus, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
(3) \\#19\\ Jesus, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead.
(4) \\#20\\ Jesus. the Peacemaker.
(5) \\#21\\ Jesus, the Reconciler.
(6) \\#22\\ Jesus, the Presenter.
3. \\#1:23\\ Paul’s Challenge
4. \\1:24-2:3\\ Paul’s Ministry
a. \\#1:24\\ Paul Enduring
b. \\#1:25-28\\ Paul Entrusted
c. \\#2:1-3\\ Paul Expected
C. \\#2:4-23\\ Warnings to the Church
1. \\#2:4-7\\ Don’t Be Beguiled
2. \\#2:8-15\\ Don’t Be (Spoiled) Ruined
3. \\#2:16-17\\ Don’t Be (Judged) Condemned
4. \\#2:18\\ Don’t Lose Your Reward
5. \\#2:19-23\\ Don’t Lose Your Christ
D. \\#2:10-23\\ The Solution is to Remember
1. \\#2:9-10\\ Who Christ is.
2. \\#2:11-15\\ What Christ has done.
3. \\#2:16-23\\ What we should do.
II. \\#3:1-4:18\\ Christ Exalted Through His People
I. \\1:24-2:3\\ Paul’s Ministry
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Jesus was THE good Shepherd. There is only One like Jesus; however, Paul was
certainly A shepherd and an example of what a good shepherd should be like.
In this section, Paul describes his a few details of his ministry. Maybe you are
not a shepherd (a pastor); however, if you have a ministry of any kind to anyone,
you can learn much by listening this shepherd as he describes his ministry.
A. \\#1:24\\ The Ministry of Suffering
1. Paul knew something of suffering.
a. He calls it here "his sufferings for you."
b. In other words, Paul had suffered so that these Christians and
others like them might be benefited.
2. Yet, Paul rejoiced in his suffering - "Who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you…."
3. Why? Two reasons:
a. His suffering helped to bring them to Christ.
(1) This is a specific kind of suffering.
(a) Paul is talking about suffering that the gospel might be
preached.
(b) I know nothing of this kind of suffering. The most I
have experienced is a little inconvenience.
(c) But if persecution, beatings, imprisonment, and threat
of death are not too much to experience for telling
someone about Jesus, I don’t think inconvenience will
be!
(2) We must always remember that a soul is priceless!
Mt 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
b. Because what he suffered was filling up that which was behind of
the afflictions of Christ.
(1) What does that mean?
(2) It means that Jesus came to bear our not only our sins but our
pain.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we
are healed.
(3) I do not believe this suffering is strictly related to the
proclamation of the gospel.
(a) Any pain that we bear is left over from the cross. It is
pain that Jesus did not have to bear.
(b) Our charismatic brethren are correct when they say that
Jesus came to give us healing; however, it does not
appear that it is total physical healing.
(c) If it were, as soon as Paul was slapped, the bleeding
would stop and the bruise would heal.
(d) Indeed, a Christian would be virtually invulnerable to
sickness, accident, or death. His/Her body would
instantly regenerate.
(e) Yet, Jesus has provided some healing.
(4) The suffering that Jesus has left accomplishes several things:
(a) Suffering makes us more like Jesus. (He suffered.
When we suffer, we have something in common.)
(b) Suffering teaches us. (It is a hard classroom but it is
a necessary one.)
(c) Suffering allows us to minister to others. (If we never
hurt, we would be so removed from the remainder of the
world that they would not listen to us.)
(d) Suffering earns us rewards. (When we suffer with the right
attitude, our heavenly Father notes it and, I believe,
will reward us accordingly.)
(5) Paul counted this a great joy. That Jesus left some pain for
him to bear!
4. However, it is not just pain that Jesus left us. He also left some
comfort and consolation.
2Co 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also
aboundeth by Christ.
B. \\#1:25-28\\ The Ministry of Serving
1. \\#25\\ Paul said, "I am made a minister…."
a. Paul was made a servant.
b. He goes on to explain what that means to him.
2. \\#25\\ "dispensation of God"
a. A dispensation is a period of time in which God deals with mankind
in a certain way.
b. Depending on how you count them, there are at least seven.
(1) Dispensation of Innocence - Adam to the fall (cast out of
Garden)
(2) Dispensation of Conscience - Fall to flood (Noah’s flood)
(3) Dispensation of Human Law - Flood to Moses (destruction of
Egypt)
(4) Dispensation of God’s Law - Moses to Jesus (the cross)
(5) Dispensation of Grace - Jesus to the rapture
(6) Dispensation of Wrath - Rapture to earthly reign of Christ
(return of Christ)
(7) Dispensation of the Kingdom - Millennium Reign (End of the
world)
c. In this dispensation, we are to minister, to serve!
3. "which is given to me for you" - Something had been given to Paul.
a. It was revelation, truth, knowledge, understanding.
b. God gave Paul truths to give to the people.
(1) Understand that God has given every child of God in this time
period an abundance of truth.
(a) This abundant knowledge started with the early church
apostles, like Paul.
(b) However, today, with education so abundant, books,
sermons, video, internet—there is no reason every
Christian cannot have a deep understanding of the truths
that once a very few had.
(2) Yet, even today, God calls and empowers His pastors to discern
truth.
(a) That is just what God does with His shepherds.
(b) There is a movement today to do away with the pastors.
(c) While pastors are not above the flock, God still uses
them.
4. "to fulfill the Word of God" - God does that because He promised He
would.
Jer 3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed
you with knowledge and understanding.
5. \\#26\\ "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations"
a. One of the truths Paul had and was passing along was a mystery
which has been hidden from the beginning.
b. A mystery is something that is unknown and unknowable except that
God revealed it.
6. \\#27\\ What was that mystery?
a. That God would give Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.
b. Some think God giving salvation to the Gentiles was an after thought
in the mind of God.
c. NOT SO! It was always God’s plan.
7. \\#28\\ So Paul preached that mystery to "every man."
a. Paul’s purpose was to warn every man that he was a sinner and that
Christ had died for him.
b. And to teach every man how they might trust Jesus Christ as their
Savior.
8. \\#29\\ This became Paul’s work, as it does to all who are good
shepherds.
a. Notice some terms in this verse.
(1) "labour"
(2) "striving"
(3) "mightily"
b. God gave to Paul and his generation a TRUST, a CHARGE. They worked
hard to make sure that TRUST was made known and that CHARGE was
carried out.
c. Because of the effort of Paul and others, that mystery is not a
mystery any longer!
9. We too have a trust and a charge.
a. We are to get that good news to every creature on the face of the
earth!
b. We are losing ground! The population of the world is growing
faster than we are getting to them.
c. It is time for us to labor, to strive, to let God work mightily in
us to get the job done!
C. \\#2:1-3\\ The Ministry of Expectation - Paul labored expecting God to do
some things for these people.
1. \\#2\\ Those who are involved in the ministry do with some
expectations.
a. Perhaps they should not.
b. Perhaps their only expectation should be that Christ would be
exalted—and that must be the main expectation.
c. However, ministers still expect to see some results.
d. Paul did.
2. What did Paul expect? Two things.
a. Paul expected to see those he ministered to comforted in love.
(1) He called it "knit together in love."
(2) The body of Jesus is to be bound together by love.
(a) They are held together by the love of Christ.
(b) But they are also to be intertwined together by the love
of each other.
(3) Riffs in the church do an injustice to Jesus and are a
disappointment to the minister.
b. Paul expected them to enjoy the riches of understanding.
(1) \\#2-3\\ Paul actually uses all three words that refer to
knowledge and its use.
(a) understanding - to see the connections
(b) wisdom - to see things as God sees them
(c) knowledge - to have information or truth
(2) To see the babes in Christ grow into the men and women of God,
those who are strong in spirit, is the desire of every true
minister of God.
3. These things are just the logical acknowledgements (the logical ends) of
receiving the mystery of God.
<Outline
Index> <Close Window>
