Colossians 4 | Paul's Final Words to the Colossians: A Call to Action

Why does Paul emphasize being watchful in prayer with thanksgiving?
Who are the people mentioned in Paul's final greetings in Colossians 4?
What is the significance of Onesimus in Colossians 4?

Colossians 4 wraps up Paul's letter with both final instructions and personal notes that provide practical applications for believers. He emphasizes the importance of continuing steadfastly in prayer, staying alert, and remaining thankful as God responds. Paul reminds readers to remain vigilant and grateful for answered prayers, highlighting how easy it is to move on without recognizing God's hand in our lives. 

Verses 5 and 6 stand out as a call to walk in wisdom and demonstrate Christ-like behavior towards outsiders. Paul underscores the importance of gracious and seasoned speech, urging believers to be noticeably different from the world around them, serving as a light that draws others towards faith. He cautions against conforming to worldly norms, advocating instead for distinctiveness that reflects Jesus in everyday interactions.

Paul's personal notes at the end of the chapter highlight the interconnectedness of the early church and the importance of reconciliation, as seen in his restored relationship with Mark, whom he previously had a disagreement with. The chapter also mentions Onesimus, an escaped bond servant who was transformed through his encounter with Paul, showcasing the redemptive power of the Gospel. These final greetings remind readers that each member of the church, regardless of status, plays a critical role in the Kingdom of God.

The chapter concludes with Paul's own handwriting, reinforcing the authenticity and sincerity of his message. His reminder to "remember my chains" serves as a call to be mindful of the cost of discipleship and to remain steadfast in faith, even in challenging circumstances. It is a powerful reminder of Paul's dedication to the Gospel, even in imprisonment, urging readers to embrace their own mission with equal fervor.

Overall, Colossians 4 offers practical wisdom, calls for vigilance in prayer and gratitude, and demonstrates how to live a life that reflects Christ. It’s a reminder of the unity and diversity of the body of Christ, and how we are all called to serve, grow, and be transformed through His grace.

#Colossians4 #BibleStudy #PrayerAndThankfulness #WalkInWisdom #ChristianLiving #GospelTransformation #PaulineEpistles #FaithJourney #GraceAndTruth #SpiritualGrowth

Transcript

 Colossians 4

Colossians 4

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome to God's plan, your part year two, where this year we're reading through and studying the entire New Testament one chapter at a time. Thanks again for joining us in discovering God's plan and your part in it. All right. Today we are finishing up the book of Colossians with Colossians chapter four.

It is a quick chapter, but I can promise you. There is a lot packed in here that you might not notice on first reading. The same rules as always apply. Please read this for yourself or listen to us read it at the end of the episode. Uh, but I do know there's a lot in here and I'm excited to jump into it.

Yep. Whopping 18 verses for chapter four. I think some final instructions that are given here in. Chapter four are what stuck out to me the most. I'm interested to see what you thought. We didn't even talk really about this episode before, but you said it is quite packed. However, my verses that I really appreciated and resonated with was, uh, verses four, excuse me, five and six.

All right. Let me go first because I love verse two. Two, and I think [00:01:00] we could literally read verse two and close it up and call it your part, but I will yield to your five and six. So you guys can let us know who wins. Uh, verse two continues steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving at the same time.

Pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word. That was two and three extra credit. Um, I think it, this short little reminder about prayer is so helpful because I don't know that it's often tied together with Thanksgiving. I'm sure this is not the only time, but this is hitting me in a really unique way.

Like when you pray to God and ask God to do things and intervene in ways and provide in ways, you also want to be watchful to see if he does those things. I am very often guilty of. Like seriously praying for something and then just moving on to the next thing. And honestly, I can tell you right now, I can make a list of things that I have prayed for.

And I know for a fact that God has like worked in them, [00:02:00] but I was not being watchful with Thanksgiving. So I think this is a really helpful reminder. Uh, and, and maybe it's sticking out to me because it's meant to stick out to somebody out there that's listening. Um, As you are praying for something, and I'm sure many of us are praying for different things, keep your eyes peeled and keep track of what's going on because you want to be like, you want to worship God in thankfulness.

When he comes through, obviously, like our prayers don't always get answered exactly the way we think they should. Um, but we want to keep our eyes open to see what God is doing. And one of the ways that's helpful to do that is journaling. I know not everybody is a journaler. Um, but sometimes it can be really helpful to write out the things you're praying for, because then you can write out the ways that you've seen God move in it.

Do you do that? Uh, I, I, I've had periods in my life where I did that a lot. I like, I like that you're asking, like, you have no idea. I mean, you know, the way that you just said that, I'm like, well, do you do that at work or something? Do I not see this? Um, I, I don't do it as often as I should, but I do know there was a, a one particularly like very [00:03:00] difficult time in life where I started writing out all the things I was praying about.

I had that big, it was in our old house. I had that big chalkboard in the basement. It was actually really helpful to keep what I was asking the Lord to intervene, like to keep that in front of my eyes, uh, and also to track how he was answering my prayers. And it was really interesting because I think oftentimes God is dealing with your prayers, but you so quickly move on to the next thing that you just, you constantly feel like, man, if God would just answer me and like, he is.

But you're already asking something different and it just shows like, honestly, in my own life, it shows my own consumeristic nature where I want everything quickly so I can get it done and move to the next thing. And I think God quite famously does not always act that way. Well, I do appreciate, I guess that verse more now that you said it, because I think it's easy to glaze over, but, um, his specific words being watchful in it with Thanksgiving.

So it is true. Like. It's almost like, Oh, thank goodness. That's over. Okay. Now the next thing, God. [00:04:00] So, I mean, even in our most, excuse me, our most recent like situations, like we've just definitely been seeking wisdom and I think God's been revealing to us wisdom and like, just definitely opportunities to serve him in many different ways.

And what felt like complete darkness is like full of like a lot of things that God is like, Hey, trust me in. Wherever I put you, um, darkness is a little strong. No, I would say that because we were just like, what are we doing? Like, we don't know, like, seriously, direction wise felt very dark and I wasn't sure what we were up to.

And I, I don't know that we still don't know what we're up to, but I just, I, I think I need to appreciate and be thankful in what God does provide and answer me with. Uh, cause that can easily be. So, moving right along, I did appreciate verses 5 and 6, uh, talking essentially about how they are to be reflective of Christ.

I always like this [00:05:00] because it should be no, like, confusing thing for someone who is outside of the faith to know there's something different about you. So, if somebody is, if somebody is in a conversation with you. Or, like, sees you interacting with others, or just, I don't know, has any interaction with you, and can't tell that there's, like, something different, or like, huh, their outlook is, like, kind of refreshing or a little different than mine, uh, I think there's a problem.

And I think this is, these verses are saying that. Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. We should not be. Like, uh, a complete carbon copy of the culture or of the world around us. We should be able to stand out and be a light for others who don't know. And then let's, this is verse six, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

And in that, I think comes like wisdom in how to [00:06:00] interact with those other people outside of the faith so that you are not like, I don't know, defensive in a bad way and not, like, causing them to think outside of their own thoughts in a way that's gonna, like, tell me more about that. Um, so, I don't know. I just think those verses are very important because We live in a world where it's like, be like the world to win the world.

And sometimes I think that it crosses into silliness. So I appreciate Paul encouraging this church to do the very opposite of that. So this is where we get into, like, it's, it's basically like personal salutations. It's just like the end of the letter. And Paul's going through the list of things that he wants to follow up on.

And it's just like personal instructions. Lots of people he's thankful for. Um, there's a couple of names that are really important. That are really worth highlighting. If you look at verse nine and with our, actually I'll start in verse eight, I have sent him to you for the very purpose that you may know how we [00:07:00] are and that he may encourage your hearts.

And with him, Oh, Nessimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that has taken place here. So, and Nessimus was an escaped bond servant. I do use the term bond servant on purpose. Um, he was not. A slave. He was like in the way that we understand slaves. Um, he had escaped from his master and somehow met up with Paul and got saved.

He accepted Christ and Paul made a point to send him back to his master because he wanted him to honor his master. And if you want to know more details about how that played out, you can read the book. The book of Philemon, which is actually just one letter, uh, but Philemon was his master. So this is a unique situation where we can see in Colossians that Paul is kind of giving them details and we can see in Philemon what Paul was expecting.

And we'll be digging into Philemon, uh, in a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of days. I'm not sure. Uh, but [00:08:00] soon we'll be dealing with Philemon and it, it's. Very interesting. And we'll, we'll get into the nuance there, but if you want extra credit, you can move ahead and look at Philemon. Um, it can be controversial because people look at it and they're like, Paul supported slavery.

Um, that is not the best way to look at this. Uh, but there's also a lot of nuance in how. Paul talked to Philemon and just like a, like a little bit of a teaser. Um, he basically told Philemon essentially like, I'm asking you kindly to care well for Onesimus and I'm doing it, um, basically like brother to brother, instead of using my full authority, like essentially like, Hey, can you, Do what I say.

And if you don't do what I say, you're going to be dealing with my authority and that'll be very different. Um, so it's interesting. We'll dig into that in a little bit. Another really interesting thing is in verse 10, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas concerning whom you have received instructions in acts 15, uh, Paul and Barnabas [00:09:00] part ways.

And they actually part ways because they, like, Like they get in a fight with each other. They do not resolve the fight. Yes. A sharp disagreement, I believe is what it says. And, um, it's, it's kind of a black eye on Paul's ministry and Barnabas ministry. It feels very odd. And the. The reason they get into a big fight is because Paul does not trust John Mark.

He does not want to go on ministry tours with John Mark because of some past mistake that John Mark made. Uh, and here in Colossians four verse 10, we see that there was reconciliation. Made like they worked it out and now they are clearly serving and working together, Paul and Mark. So sometimes people will teach like, I don't like Paul, he got in a fight with that guy and never worked it out.

And that doesn't seem very Christian. And that is really only teaching part of the story because the Bible clearly shows that Paul reconciled with Mark and they did serve together in ministry later on. [00:10:00] So are there any other people in this last section that you want to call out or name? Well, it's sort of like the greatest hits like you'll, you'll see Epaphras.

We've heard a lot about Epaphras. You'll see Luke. We've heard a lot about Luke. Um, we can see that Luke is there with Paul. That's how Luke is able to write, um, but starting the gospel of Luke and then also the book of Acts. Like. Luke's there and Paul's writing about how he's there. And so I think it's really interesting.

Um, there it, it's great. Like, don't skip these parts because there's like little treasures to be mined out of these parts. Look at these names, see what you can study about these names, see who these people are, what they were doing. Um, I always, I love these little, uh, personal notes because you move from theology into like fiercely practical things where Paul's like, Hey, I'm I know you, here's what you should do.

I know you, here's what I would recommend for you. You can see that he's an actual pastor dealing with actual people. Um, and then I always love when he calls out writing in his own hand. If you, the closing verse, I, Paul write this [00:11:00] greeting with my own hand. That, that would have been like, had you received the actual letter, that part would have been visibly different because it would have been scribbled in his handwriting.

And it would have been like, okay, that's definitely from Paul. So. I think those are cool little details. Um, I also, I guess that one little part of the very end, remember my chains. So like, he's setting the tone and example, like in humility, I am trying to like help grow this church, trying to help grow you, so don't feel inadequate or like you can't do something like I'm sitting here in prison on behalf of you.

I care so deeply for the mission of Christ and his church. So I don't know that little part. Always. Kind of got me too. But anyway, that being said, that closes up this final chapter of Colossians. I would say this letter again is kind of like a, like a softball letter compared to some of the ones that we have heard before.

Uh, but there is clear direction. Like I think overall this letter was very much of like, continue on, [00:12:00] don't give up, don't lose hope. Like you have to keep pushing on and being that light to the rest of the world, um, so that more people would come to Christ. So just one more letter. That Paul is just growing the church and encouraging them.

And I think that's definitely good for us too, as we consider our own mission, uh, things to stay focused on, things to not get off track with, um, and realizing like, We struggle with a lot of the same things that Paul was writing to this church about. So your part for today, I would challenge you to pray, uh, with watchful eyes and thanksgiving.

Uh, I just love those verses. Uh, do you have a, do you have your own take on your part for today? I like yours. Oh, we're going to double down. I mean, I like mine too, but I think yours is good. Look at that. I won her over today. Way to go. So that's the end of Colossians. We will be going back in time a little bit because we're going to be going into first Thessalonians tomorrow.

Uh, and it [00:13:00] was actually written like a couple of years, probably 10 years, give or take, uh, Earlier than Colossians. So we'll be going back in time slightly. Um, but I'm excited to dive into first Thessalonians. We appreciate all of you so much for going on this journey with us. We hope you are growing in your faith and we hope that God's word is transforming your life.

We'll be back again tomorrow. We'll see you then. Thanks for joining us for another episode of God's plan. Your part. We wanted to remind you that reading God's word is so important and it will transform your life. If you want a copy of the Bible that we use here on the podcast, just go ahead and send us an email at GodsPlanYourPart at gmail.

com. With that being said, here is the reading for today. Colossians chapter 4, Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us [00:14:00] a door for the Word, to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.

I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions if he comes to you, welcome him.

And Jesus, who is called Justice. These are the only men of the circumcision, among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and [00:15:00] they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured of the will of God.

For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Heriopolis. Luke, the beloved physician, greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

And say to Archippus, See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of God's Plan, Your Part. Don't forget, you can find us on just about every social media platform.

And YouTube, let us know what you thought of today's episode. And if you have any questions, go ahead and post them there. You can also [00:16:00] reach out to us directly at God's plan. Your part at gmail. com as always, if you don't have a Bible, or if you'd like to use the one that we use, uh, reach out to us via email, and we'll be happy to send one to you.

Thanks again for listening. We'll see you again tomorrow.