Colossians 4:11-18
Friends in the Ministry
I. \\#1:1-2:23\\ The Person of God Displayed through Christ
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\\ The Person of God Displayed through the Believers
A. \\#3:1\\ A Condition
B. \\#3:2-4\\ A Correlation
C. \\#3:5-4:6\\ Commands
1. \\#3:5-17\\ For A Growing Christian
a. \\#5-7\\ We must kill some things.
b. \\#8-9\\ We must "put off" some things.
c. \\#10-17\\ We must "put on" some things.
2. \\#3:18-21\\ For A Godly Home
3. \\#3:22-4:1\\ For Good Business
4. \\#4:2-6\\ For A Strong Christian Witness
a. \\#2-4\\ Pray
b. \\#5\\ Walk Wisely
c. \\#6\\ Speak Graciously
D. \\#4:7-18\\ Friends in the Ministry
1. \\#7\\ Tychicus—A Servant Who Will Help
2. \\#9\\ Onesimus—A Servant Who Will Help
3. \\#10\\ Aristarchus—A Brother Who Would Not Leave
4. \\#10\\ Marcus—A Brother Restored
5. \\#11\\ Justus—A Completed Jew
6. \\#12\\ Epaphras—A Lover of Souls
7. \\#14\\ Luke—A Faithful Companion
8. \\#14\\ Demas—A Failing Stepping Stone
9. \\#15\\ Nymphas—A hospitable brother
10. \\#17\\ Archippus—A Careful Minister
We continue tonight looking at those men who surrounded the Apostle
Paul, God using them to help accomplish the great work of God.
I. \\#11\\ Justus—A Completed Jew
A. There are several men in the Bible named Justus, but this
appears to be the only reference to this man.
B. Paul tells us that he was of the circumcision.
1. That means he was a Jew.
2. Since he is a fellow worker of the kingdom of God, he is
saved.
3. That makes him a completed Jew.
C. What is a completed Jew?
1. I believe the first person that I heard use the term was
Dr. Jacob Gartenhaus, founder of the International
Board of Jewish Missions.
2. To be a completed Jew means to have become the kind of
Jew God always intended them to be, that is Jewish and
Christian.
3. Most Jews are only half way to where God wants them to be.
4. While the completed Jew is no more perfect than the
incomplete Jew, he does have a faith in Jesus Christ as
God, Messiah, and Savior.
D. All we really know about Justin is that he was that kind of
Jew.
II. \\#12-13\\ Epaphras—A Lover of Souls
A. Epaphras was mentioned earlier in this book.
Col 1:7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is
for you a faithful minister of Christ;
1. We believe Epaphras to be the one who brought Paul word
of Colosse and who will be among the number who will take
this epistle back to them.
2. He is mentioned as being a fellowprisoner of Jesus Christ.
Phm 1:23 There salute thee Epaphras, my fellowprisoner in Christ
Jesus;
3. That was Paul’s symbolic way of saying that Epaphras
realized he was a servant and slave to his Master, Jesus
Christ.
B. Paul’s description of Epaphras here is that he loved the
people at Colosse and the surrounding areas enough to:
1. \\#12\\ …fervently pray for them that they may stand
perfect and complete in the will of God.
2. \\#13\\ Paul also testified that he had a "great zeal"
for Colosse and Laodicea and Hierapolis.
III. \\#14\\ Luke—A Faithful Companion
A. Who is Luke?
1. Luke was Paul’s traveling companion, mentioned most often
by the term "we" in the book of Acts.
2. Luke is the writer of the gospel Luke.
3. We believe he also wrote the book of Acts. Consider that
at that Roman jail are three Bible writers: Paul, Mark,
and Luke! (That was some place to be!)
4. Luke records little of himself.
a. Since he was one of Paul’s main secretary’s, that
means we know very little of him.
b. Perhaps the Bible says so little of him because most
every location that Paul wrote to, Luke had been
there with him.
c. Luke did not feel the need to introduce himself to
those people as they would have already known him.
5. This verse tells us that Luke is a physician or medical
doctor. (A doctor’s attention to detail would make him
a good writer.)
6. Tradition says he was born in Antioch of Syrian, making
him a Gentile.
B. What can we say of this man? He was faithful.
1Cor 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found
faithful.
1. He was faithful to Jesus. He lived the life of Christ.
2. He was faithful in his travels. He never quit.
3. He was faithful in his writings. He wrote as God gave Him
to write.
4. He was faithful to his friend, Paul. Paul is in jail and
Luke is still with him.
IV. \\#14\\ Demas—A Stumbling Brother
A. Mentioned three times in the Bible.
1. Twice in a positive way.
Phm 1:24 Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.
2. But in the end, Demas abandons Paul and the Way.
2Ti 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world,
and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto
Dalmatia.
B. Second Timothy is the last book that Paul wrote so that is
the last word we have on Demas.
1. Apparently saved.
2. Faithful to God and in service for a time.
3. Then, his love for the world pulled him back into it.
a. Understand that in this context, his love for the
world might have been nothing more worldly than
his love for life!
b. He might have figured if he continued doing what he
was doing, he was going to get killed and decided
he did not want that.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
V. \\#15\\ Nymphas—A hospitable brother
A. Nymphas and Archippus were on the receiving end of this
letter.
B. Nymphas was obviously a Gentile who was saved and allowed
the church to meet in his home.
1. Home churches were the order of the day.
a. The people were poorer.
b. Christianity was not an approved Roman religion.
c. While there is no reason to be ashamed of a home
church, I know of nothing from the Bible that
would indicate they are any more the will of God
than a house build for the purpose of worship
like we use.
2. Nymphas may have had a bit more money and thus had a
larger house or better ability with which to minister
to those who might worship in his house.
C. Of a certain, he had a godly, generous, and serving spirit.
VI. \\#17\\ Archippus—A Careful Minister
A. Archippus is mentioned here and in the book of Philemon.
1. To be honest, just reading what Paul wrote here, my
first thought was that Archippus might be faltering.
2. However, Paul’s words in Philemon contradict that
thought.
Phm 1:2 And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier,
and to the church in thy house:
3. There Paul refers to Archippus as a "fellowsoldier"
and mentions that he, like Nymphas, houses a church
in his home.
B. Now I believe it was Paul’s desire to simply encourage,
perhaps to even charge Archippus, that he stay faithful to
his calling.
1. Everyone needs a reminder and a re-charging every once
in awhile!
2. The work God has called the believer to, and especially
the work God calls those who are called to serve in
public leadership to, can be tiring, tempting, and
tedious.
3. So what is the word from God?
(a) FULFILL IT.
(b) Do not quit.
(c) Do not get discouraged.
(d) Do not compromise.
(e) Do not become a Demas!
These words come to us from a man who is imprisoned for the work of
God. We conclude this study but let us not forget this book. Our
Lord is worthy of exaltation. We as believers are to exalt him with
our lives and our ministries. God help us to do so.
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