A Special Calling Colossians 1:24-29

Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=91833

Throughout the first chapter of Colossians, we have learned

about how Jesus redeemed us, how He saved us from the

penalty of sin. We have seen how He is reconciled us to Himself through His blood.

Now, we need to pause for a moment and think about this

question, “Why?”

Why did Jesus die for us, why did God go to the trouble of

saving us?Why did God reveal Himself

through Jesus?Why do we gather together each

Sunday?

After we have looked at the gospel, the person and work of Jesus over the last four weeks, what are we left with now? Did

God go to all this trouble just so He could have something to do or is there a higher purpose?

I think the Christians have taken it for granted that we are saved and we treat our salvation as a suit in the closet, if we are not

careful, we find ourselves pulling it out of the closet only on “special” occasions. When

this happens to us, it affects the church negatively.

You need to understand something very important. God

sent His Son to die for you because He loves you!Jesus willingly endured

hardship because He loves you. Everything God has done for us has been done because of His

great love for us.

Now think about this for a moment.

Have you loved someone only to have them not show you any

appreciation for the love you have for them?

Have you ever had that happen to you?

It is not a good feeling.

It hurts to know you have given and sacrificed for someone you

love, only to find that you get little to no response from them.

Today, we are going to see that we have a special calling from

God.This special calling should be

part of our response to God for what He has done for us.

This special calling is for the church, but what is the church?

The church is all of us who make up the body of Christ. As we study Colossians 1:24-29 this morning, may we get a clear understanding of what

God is calling us to do individually and as a church!

Colossians 1:24 ESV 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, 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. 28 Him we proclaim, warning

everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present

everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that

he powerfully works within me.

Serve Jesus Sacrificially We are called to:

24 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,

Does verse 24 jump off the page and grab you? I see something a bit strange, don’t you? Paul is

rejoicing in his suffering for their sake. You need to realize

Paul is in prison when he is writing this letter to the church

at Colossae.

“what is lacking in Christ's afflictions,” signifies that

portion of Christ's ministerial sufferings which was not

endured by Him in person, but is endured in the suffering of

Christians in all generations in carrying out Christ's work. (VWS)

You cannot serve without sacrifice. Think about it, by being

here this morning you are demonstrating some level of

sacrifice.Do you enjoy the food & drinks each Sunday? How about the

clean church building?Those acts of service done by

several people take a sacrifice of time & money.

Those who taught a class this morning sacrificed in order to serve. If you are in a position where you are not sacrificing,

you are not serving.Jesus calls us to sacrifice, He

calls us to serve.Paul understood this concept

very clearly.

Notice he says that he is suffering for their sake and he is doing his

share on behalf of His (Jesus) body, the church.

Paul was called to a level of sacrifice we may never experience, but the fact of the matter is this, we are called to sacrifice to serve. We need to understand that when we

give our lives to Jesus.

We must guard against wanting to ride the coat-tails of others.

It is easy to look at the church and ask what they are going to do for

me.We lose sight of the fact that we

are called to sacrificially contribute to the ministry of the

Lindley Christian Church.

We are called to sacrifice time, talents and treasures for Jesus

and for His church.

Paul endured many hardships for the cause of Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:23 ESV Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a

madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments,

with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I

received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three

times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger

from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles,

danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea,

danger from false brothers;

27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in

hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the

churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

In redemption, Jesus did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It is up to us to

now sacrifice and serve. Paul is not implying that Jesus sacrifice was

insufficient is some way, but that further progress of the gospel would require sacrifice on our part. What sacrifices

have you made for Jesus? If we are not willing to sacrifice, the work of the

church will never get off the ground.

I showed my Dad a brochure for a sporty car I wanted to buy. He said, “Any 20 year old guy can have a sports car. Why don’t you buy an airplane & learn to fly. It could earn you a living the rest of your life.” So I

bought an old Cessna, earned my pilot license & started adding ratings &

certificates. I sacrificed a lot of time and energy. I was glad to do it because it was

worth it to me.I had a goal!

What are you sacrificing a lot of time and energy for?

Do you see the work of this church as something worthy of

your sacrifice?

We have a special calling to sacrifice!

Proclaim The GospelWe are called to:

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, 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.

In verses 25-27 we see the second calling for the church

and for each one of us who are a part of the body of Christ.

Paul was called specifically to be a minister of the gospel

according to verse 25.He was called to carry out the

preaching of the word.

I have been called to carry out the preaching of the word.

Do you realize we are all called to be ministers of the word?

You may not be a preacher, but you carry out the preaching of the gospel by the way you live

for Jesus.

The other thing we need to realize is that we are all called to proclaim God’s word to lost

people.

You will be able to impact people that I might never be

able to reach.

In order to proclaim the Gospel, we need to know it.

None of us are born with the gift of biblical knowledge?Take advantage of the

opportunities to learn in Sunday School & Worship Service and then spend time in God’s Word

at home.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV All Scripture is breathed out by

God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and

for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be

competent, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed,

rightly handling the word of truth.How can we rightly handling the word of truth, God’s Word, if we don’t know it?

We have the PRIVILEGE of telling others about Jesus.

Here are two reasons.

The Message WasHidden In The Past

In verse 26 we are told that the message was hidden from past

generations. It was called a mystery. This does not mean

the message was a secret teaching, but rather it was

something that God had not yet revealed.

The prophets of the Old Testament did not receive a full revelation from God, they only saw in part. The Old Testament was meant to lead us to Jesus!Galatians 3:24 ESV So then, the

law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we

might be justified by faith.

The Message Has BeenFully Revealed To The Saints.

The mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

In Him God revealed Himself fully and that Jesus died for the

Jews and for the rest of mankind also!

The false teachers in Colossae believed that spiritual perfection

was a hidden plan (or “mystery”) that only a few

privileged people could discover. Their secret plan was

meant to be exclusive.

Paul wrote that he was making the word of God fully known

(1:25), not just a part of it. Making God’s word fully known

meant revealing the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations.

(LIFE APP BIBLE)

The mystery which God wanted us ALL to know is the fact that

we can have Christ in us!

Because of Him being in us, we have the hope and assurance of future glory, which is salvation!

We have the privilege of proclaiming this wonderful truth

to those who do not know it! You do not have to be a Bible College graduate to know and

proclaim this! Christ in us makes us Christ-like in this life and allows us to share in His glory at the Second Coming!

Help Everyone Grow In ChristWe are called to:

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching

everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone

mature in Christ.

Not only are we to proclaim the Word to people, but we have the

ministry of helping people to grow in Christ. This takes a bit more knowledge, wisdom, and

effort on our part. Verse 28 gives us some thoughts on how

we can help others grow.

Proclaiming Jesus

If we are going to help people grow in Christ, it must be Christ

we are proclaiming to them.

We must make sure when we give advice and help that we are

giving them 100% Jesus as much as we can.

When we are trying to initially reach people, we must win them

to Jesus and Jesus alone.

We cannot win them to programs, music, preacher,

etc… We must proclaim Jesus to them. We proclaim Jesus in a

couple of ways.

Warning Everyone

There are times when we will need to warn people of the consequences of rejecting

Jesus or the consequences of being disobedient to Him.

Other times we will need to encourage people to hold fast,

to hang on for dear life.

There are other times when we will need to stimulate their

thinking concerning Jesus and what they are doing.

Teaching With All Wisdom

We are to teach with all wisdom. This means that we are to make sure we are not only imparting

knowledge, but that we are also teaching people how to apply the principles of scripture in

their lives.

Life is based on doctrine.

What we believe is how we live.

We need to make sure people know what God wants from

them.

The warning and teaching always had one goal in mind: so that we may present everyone

mature in Christ.

This “presentation” points to Christ’s return, so that every

person presently living in union with Christ (every believer)

would be complete, full grown, and perfectly instructed in

doctrine, faith, and practice.

Believers are not to remain like babies in the faith, easily led

away by something new.

The goal of Paul's ministry was to bring people to maturity in Christ, and not to dependence

upon himself. (Guzik)

Verse 28 tells us that we are to present everyone mature in

Christ.

The church has to goal of reaching people and then teaching them how to be

pleasing to God.

We are all called to help one another grow. We need to assist one another. You have heard it

said that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a church to raise a Christian.

Every last one of us has a part to play in the special calling we

have from God.

Rely On The Power Of JesusWe are called to:

29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully

works within me.

How are we going to carry out this special calling on our own?

We are not; we are called to rely on the power of Jesus!

Notice Paul said he toils, struggling with all his energy.

But he toils, struggling according to Jesus power

which was working mightily within him! Paul’s toil, struggle

was to help make everyone mature in Christ.

I believe it is easy to forget that message when we forget God’s

purpose for us and for the church.

We have a big job ahead of us, the job of bringing people to Jesus and then helping them

grow.

If we try to do these things in our own power, we are doomed to

failure. God is working within you, are you aware of the power that is

available to you.Through Christ, you can do all

things!Philippians 4:13 ESV I can do all

things through him who strengthens me.

ConclusionWe have a special calling from

God. This calling is extended to every Christian. We are called to

serve sacrificially

Proclaim the gospel, help others grow in Christ and rely on the power of Jesus within

us.

God called you for a special purpose, are you ready to fulfill

that purpose.A life lived within God’s plan and purpose for your life is

exciting and fulfilling.If you have been struggling with

following God’s call for your life, today is the day you can

change that!