Carry On

Series on Colossians

III Miscellaneous Matters

Text: 4:7-18

Introduction

As we look at the end of Paul’s ministry in His second letter to Timothy we discover him still serving, as he puts it, as a herald, and Apostle and teacher of the gospel. He will lose his life in the service of Christ, but his testimony in II Timothy 4:6 and 7 is For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. It is the gospel above all. He has already told Timothy in chapter 2:2, And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. You get the same sense here in Colossians: imprisonment after imprisonment will lead ultimately to death, but the work must go on. In Acts 20:22-24 in his farewell to the elders of Ephesus, Paul says, And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Thus here in this text he is vouching for other faithful teachers and introducing those who must carry on after he is gone. His Instructions to the Colossian believers are to receive, regard, and remember.

I Receive

In verses 7-9 they are to receive the messengers that bring this letter, Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here. With Tychicus, a faithful minister they needed to learn, but with Onesimus they needed to love. Loving Onesimus was a challenge because they had known him only as a slave in Philemon’s house. Now he is returning as a brother and a fellow worker with Paul. Here was a test of genuineness in that not only Philemon must forgive Onesimus and receive him back into his household, but the Christian community must adjust its prejudices and recognize that people do change. The are dozens of wonderful stories about how grace effected change in men’s lives, and here is one. Augustine was the premier theologian in the early church. Soon after Augustine’s conversion, he was walking down the street in Milan, Italy. There he was accosted by a prostitute whom he had known most intimately. She called but he would not answer. He kept right on walking. “Augustine,” she called again. “It is I!” Without slowing down, but with assurance of Christ in his heart, he testified, “Yes, but it is no longer I.” Although young in the faith, he knew a lot about solicitation to do evil. His reply, “It is no longer I,” expresses a realization that he had a new power available to combat the forces of sin and evil which would seek to dominate his life. He was a changed man. People do change when touched by Jesus. Now, Tychicus was an Asiatic Christian, a friend and companion of the apostle Paul in some of his missionary journeys as well as his imprisonment. He is mentioned in the book of Acts and in Ephesians, Colossians, II Timothy and Titus. The character and career of Tychicus are such as show him altogether affectionate, faithful and worthy of the confidence reposed in him by Paul, who sent him again and again on important work, which could be performed only by a man of ability and of high Christian worth and experience. He was later sent by Paul to assist Titus in the work on Crete, and then to assist Timothy in the work at Ephesus. Thus, Tychicus was, indeed, a beloved brother, a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord. Whether new convert or seasoned believer all were to be received and blessed in Colosse.

II Regard

In verses 10-15 there is a list of fellow-workers who are commended by Paul to the Colossians ending with Paul’s own greeting to church groups, My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. These may be divided into two groups, the Jewish and the Gentile helpers. The Jewish helpers are important because they demonstrate that in Paul’s long battle against the Judaizers and their insistence that Christians be circumcised, there were genuine Jews who favored the Apostle’s position and worked with him. Among them there is one reliable, one restored, and one remote. The reliable one was Aristarchus of Thessalonica . Aristarchus was a faithful traveling companion of Paul. In Ephesus there was a mob riot spurred on by the idol makers against Paul’s preaching and in favor of the city’s pagan deity, Diana of the Ephesians. And we read in Acts 19:28 and 29, They were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. Here in Colossians he is nobly identified as a fellow prisoner, which in accord with the Roman custom of allowing family and friends to remain with prisoners, does not mean he was imprisoned, but that he was allowed extended visitation rights, and chose to be with Paul. Mark is the restored one because he had previously been excluded from Paul’s mission but now was not only back, but also commended to the Colossians with a notation that implies they had been informed of his restoration, “You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.” Finally there is the remote one, Jesus, called Justus, about whom we know absolutely nothing, except he was with Paul in a Roman prison, which is enough. The second group is the Gentile companions Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. Epaphras, the Colossian Presbyter was active in the establishment of the young churches including Colosse. He had brought news of the work to Paul. He was a hardworking, faithful praying minister and evangelist and Paul reminds the church of this in his letter. Luke was a frequent traveling companion of Paul and a physician. He wrote the Book of Acts which is largely the story of Paul’s mission work, and we can even tell when he was with Paul in his travels because some sections are written in the third person, and some in the second person which we call the “we” sections. Finally there is the pariah, Demas. We are told nothing here other than that he sends greetings which is innocent enough but during his second Roman imprisonment, Paul wrote these plaintive words in II Timothy 4:10, Demas has deserted me, because he fell in love with the present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. What a sharp contrast to the very next verse II Timothy 4:11, where Paul writes during those final days, “Only Luke is with me.” He that endures to the end will be saved.

III Remember

Finally Paul concludes with a set of instructions in verses 16-18, After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea. Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. We have no record of a letter of Paul to the church in Laodicea, but the most sensible proposal is that it is lost, and God did not deem it needed in the canon of Scripture. At a later time an apocryphal letter to Laodicea was circulated, but the early church condemned it as spurious. The one thing that we do learn here is that every letter that has been preserved is important for us to read and study. But who was Archippus? Although his name is preserved as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church our knowledge of him is slim. Philemon begins with these words, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker — also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier —and to the church that meets in your home. Usually “fellow soldier” is the designation of a minister and tradition says he was a pastor. He was probably a son in the household of Philemon and therefore younger like Timothy. Paul wrote to Timothy in I Timothy 4:12, Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. The supposition is that Archippus like Timothy needed encouragement because of his youth. Youth does not mean he was a teenager. He was a young man in his later 20’s or 30’s, but Paul tells the church to tell Archippus that he should complete the work he has received in the Lord. This sounds a lot like some of the things Paul says to Timothy and would mean that the church intended to cooperate in supporting his ministry. Finally Paul signs the letter which essentially authenticates it. It was his custom to dictate his letters to a friend acting as amanuensis or secretary. but he wants them to be sure this letter is not spurious. Apparently there were such letters because in I Thessalonians 1:1 and 2 Paul wrote, We ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter —asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. How precious that we have the authentic letters of Paul preserved for us. The Westminster Confession of Faith reminds us in chapter 1, paragraphs 2-4, “Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His Church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scripture to be most necessary.” Paragraph 8 reminds us that the Scripture “being immediately inspired by God,” was, “by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages,” and is therefore authentic. Paul concludes with a request and a simple benediction of grace. The request is to remember his chains, that is pray for him in his imprisonment. The benediction is simply grace which is, after all, the sum of his teaching, grace upon grace.