I invite you to turn to the book of Colossians in your Bibles, Colossians chapter 1, we're going to be considering this evening verses 24 through 29. Now last week we considered verses 15 through 20, but if you think we're skipping sections 21 through 23. That was a section that I preached in July when I was here with you. And so I would point you to a sermon on the internet, on our webpage for that section. I didn't think I would preach that section again, having just preached it. So we're going to focus our attention this evening on verses 24 down through 29. Colossians chapter 1, beginning at verse 24. Hear now the very word of God. Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body, that is the church, 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 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints 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 him we proclaim warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in christ for this i toil struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me here ends the reading and hearing of God's word may he bless it to us well I recently attended a memorial service where the person who was asked to read words of remembrance began by asking the question what will people say about us when we are dead and gone what will people say about us I'm sure that's a question that some of us have thought about. For many, that can be something of a haunting question, can't it? What will people say about us when we are gone? I bring that up because this text, in my mind, serves as something of words of remembrance for the Apostle Paul, the life of Paul. Maybe we can call it something of a self-obituary, if you like. But what this passage here presents us with is Paul's life, his ministry, his devotion. Someone recently said to me that a minister's ministry should be a calling and not simply a job. And that's absolutely true. Absolutely true. And it was true for the Apostle Paul. And we see that in these passages. We see that his ministry was his life. And Paul presents us with this evening through these verses three aspects of his life here. His joy, his calling, and his purpose. His joy, his calling, and his purpose. The author of Hebrews begins in verse 12, well, 12-2, saying, For the joy set before him, Christ endured the cross, despising the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God in that Hebrews 12 passage what we see presented is a is a pattern of the Christian life laid out for us by Christ his life being an example of suffering and trial in this life but then glory and vindication in the life to come we're so inclined today to get that pattern backwards aren't we maybe not even backwards but as christians maybe we we even struggle to understand why it is that we would ever struggle in this life and sadly i'm not just speaking about the broad evangelical christian world but that's the case for some of us reformed folk as well we too struggle to understand or to give purpose or meaning or to appreciate our own suffering in our christian lives see we may all know that there's a problem with that best-selling book our best life now written by joel olstein but although we understand that there's a problem with that book maybe we have inadvertently unintentionally picked up some of the the ideas somehow that flow from that book if we have we must bring those unbiblical ideas to the foot of the cross of jesus christ our lord and give ourselves fully and completely to jesus who said if anyone would come after me he must deny himself take up his cross and follow me if anyone would deny or lose his life for my sake i'm sorry if if anyone if for whosoever would save his life will lose it but if anyone loses his life for my sake he will find it there's most certainly suffering involved in in the words of christ in that passage and so i think this passage that paul brings to us here, you know, really asks us, are we ready to deny ourselves and follow Christ fully, completely, with all of our hearts? So Paul was most certainly ready to do that, wasn't he? He expresses that by the beginning of what he says in verse 24, now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake. I've asked the question before, and I'm sure I'll ask it again. Why can some Christians, why can some Christians, while they suffer, seem to take joy in Christ in the midst of that suffering? Why can some Christians do that? What allows some Christians to be able to endure hardship, trial, suffering, and to do so with a kind of joy? I think that's so because they understand the reason why they suffer. They suffer because their good and faithful God has ordained for them to suffer. And they're content with Him. And so they're content with what He has for them. Peter says in 1 Peter 4, Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourself with the same way of thinking. Then he goes on to say, Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. That's exactly what Paul knew. Paul says here in these passages the reason he suffers is for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Christ's church. Paul was content with suffering because there was great meaning to his suffering. He knew what he was suffering for, his Lord, his Savior, and his Lord and Savior's bride, the church. You see, these passages are not disconnected from what Paul has already said earlier in this chapter. Back in verse 15 through 20, Paul has expounded upon the preeminence of Christ, hasn't he? That everything in all existence, Everything in creation and new creation. Christ is preeminent, first and foremost. Then, in verses 21 through 20, Paul takes those truths and he applies them to his Colossian hearers. He says, and you, moving to speak to how Christ's preeminence applies to them. But then, here in this passage, he takes the truths of Christ's preeminence and he applies them to himself really see he begins to do this by saying i rejoice in my suffering for your sake you see paul is in prison when writing this he's in prison and paul understands that his audience might think to themselves if christ is preeminent over all things then why is it that the apostle paul is sitting in prison at this very time why is he sitting in prison away from friends, family, and church? And the answer is because it's the plan of Christ. It's God's plan for Paul to be in prison. That's why Paul can again take joy in his suffering because it's for the sake of Christ, the gospel, the church. See, although prison was bad enough, we know that Paul suffered much more than simply being in prison, right? He lists to us his suffering in 2 Corinthians 11. He says that he had multiple imprisonments, countless beatings, often near death, five times receiving 40 lashes at the hand of the Jews, three times beaten with rods, one stone, three times shipwrecked, a night and a day adrift at sea, on frequent journeys, in danger of rivers, robbers, in danger from his own people, in danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, he says, in cold and exposure, and apart from all of this, the daily anxiety that he carried and burdened for the church of Christ. Paul suffered, didn't he? He knew what it meant to suffer. He was familiar with suffering, and he knew why. And in the face of all of that, he confesses, I rejoice in my suffering for your sake. But it wasn't just that one reason that Paul suffered or that one reason of knowing that God had a plan for Paul's suffering. Paul also rejoiced in his suffering because his suffering, with his suffering, he identified with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the suffering servant. Just as I read a moment ago in 1 Peter 4, Paul says something similar to what Peter says. In 2 Corinthians 1, 5 and 6, he says, For as we share abundantly in Christ's suffering, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. Paul knows his suffering is for Christ, his church, and the gospel, and therefore he identifies with Jesus through his own suffering. Let me ask you, have you, have we come to a place in our Christian walk where we have identified with Christ so much that we can see that our suffering is in a way identified with Christ and His suffering. You see, our whole lives belong to Christ, don't they? They absolutely do. He's the preeminent one as Paul has beautifully laid out already in this book. And if they do, and the plans that Christ has for us are His plans, then the suffering that we go through is suffering that He has ordained. And through that, we can identify with Christ, our Lord. Do we see our lives as being for Christ, for His church, for His gospel? You see, you don't have to be a minister. You don't have to be a missionary. You don't have to be in full-time service to have that mindset that Paul speaks of here in this passage. Sure, Paul was a minister. He was a missionary. But we should all live our lives fully and completely to Christ. And so can we say with Paul, as he says in Philippians 1.21, to live is Christ, to die is gain. See, Paul resolved it in his mind that suffering was a part of his christian walk it was part of him identifying with christ it was part of his life his ministry and he identified with christ so much that he goes on to say what may seem to us something peculiar in verse 24 he says and in my flesh i'm filling up what is lacking in christ's affliction for the sake of his body that is the church that's a that's a bold statement isn't it and in my flesh i'm filling up what is lacking in christ's affliction for the sake of his body that is the church i don't misunderstand paul here he's not saying that that he adds in in any way to the perfect and sufficient redemptive suffering of christ here paul's already spoken of the the complete and finished work of christ in verses 21 through 23 specifically in verse 22 he He says, he, Christ, has now reconciled in his body a flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Christ's suffering for his people is sufficient. It's done. It's completed. It's finished. Nothing is needed to be added to that work, nor can anything contribute to it. Paul's suffering, our suffering, our work. So what is it that Paul is referring to here when he says, my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction what Paul is saying is he he is simply applying to himself what Jesus said to him on the road to Damascus when he was first converted Acts 9 at the in that passage in verse 3 where where we have the record of Paul's conversion it says now as he went on his way he approached Damascus and suddenly a light from having shown around him and falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him Saul Saul why are you persecuting me who is it that Paul was persecuting Jesus says Saul was persecuting him Jesus then goes on to say in verse 5 and he said who are you Lord and he said I am Jesus whom you are persecuting paul understood that when he was persecuting christians he was really persecuting christ and so now as a christian as a a christ follower paul knows that when he suffers he is continuing he is filling up afflictions that can be accounted to christ not contributing to the perfect suffering of Christ, redemptive suffering of Christ. But as a servant of Christ, Christ accounts the suffering of his servant as his own suffering. And you see, this really shouldn't surprise us. Paul has said similar things elsewhere. 2 Corinthians 4, he says, always carrying in the body the death of Christ so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies or philippians 3 that i may know him in the power of his resurrection and may share his suffering becoming like him in his death so what we see here is paul identifying with christ in his suffering in his own suffering and paul's own suffering you see christians your lord knows about your sufferings in this life he knows and he cares about them And to the extent that we suffer for Christ, He accounts that as suffering with Him and for Him. And so when we walk across the street to share with our neighbors the gospel of Jesus Christ, when we speak of the wonderful and marvelous things that Christ has done for us, and our neighbors turn away from us. Maybe even give us some kind of insult, laugh at us, mock at us. Maybe they persecute us. We don't face all that much persecution in this country, but maybe at times we do. As Paul, we too can rejoice in that suffering. For they did to our Lord the very same thing, didn't they? They mocked him. They laughed at him. And what an honor it is for us to suffer for the sake of Christ. To suffer for the sake of his kingdom. So the life of Paul first shows us what it was that he rejoiced in. His suffering for the sake of Christ. But second, this quasi-obituary of Paul shows us also his life calling. Paul's calling is first presented here at the end of verse 23. After explaining the gospel, Paul says in verse 23, And of which I, Paul, became a minister. Paul sees and understands his calling as a minister. A minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He repeats that again in verse 25. Of which I became a minister. Children, what is a minister? What is a minister? We all know what a minister is, don't we? Well, I think Paul has something else in mind in this text. You see, the Greek word that Paul uses here is the word diakonos. Diakonos. And that should be something of a familiar word to us. It's a word from which we get the term deacon. What is a deacon, children? Do you know what a deacon is? Maybe you've seen deacons around the church. The deacons just collected offering. The deacons help people out. They serve people. The word deacon strictly means servant, servant. A diakonos is a servant. Now, why isn't the word diakonos here in the text before it's translated into the word deacon or servant? Well, it's because Paul isn't a deacon in the strict sense of the word. He does not hold the office of deacon. But Paul is certainly a minister. And as a minister, he is a servant. He's a servant. So for Paul to use that word here, he's telling us that his calling is a calling of service. Of service. He's a minister who is a servant. He's informing us and his Colossian readers that he sees himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's life calling is to be a servant. See, the term diakonos isn't just a simple servant. It refers to a lowly servant. Paul doesn't even see himself as a high servant, first among many servants, maybe as the disciples thought of themselves when they argued over who was the greatest in the kingdom. Paul sees himself as a lowly servant, not above suffering for the sake of his Lord, his Savior, his work, his ministry. I think this, again, is why Paul is happy, again, to suffer for the sake of Christ. That's why he can take joy. He knows his calling is to be a servant of Christ. And notice where this service is focused. He says in verse 24, I rejoice in my suffering for your sake. Paul's service was focused on others. It was in the service of others that Paul did what he did. he goes on to say in verse 28 warning everyone teaching everyone that we may present everyone mature in christ paul was was striving as he expresses in verse 29 for the church for everyone for others he was striving to to truly live out jesus's command to to love our neighbor as ourselves all love love was displayed through selfless service towards others again this this calling goes back to the effect of jesus christ upon the life of paul see paul was enamored with jesus christ had his heart fully it was christ who who fueled paul's service to the church and it is christ who should fuel our service as well you see we're all servants aren't we we might not be again ministers might not be deacons but we're all servants of the lord jesus christ and as servants we like christ are called to serve and not to be served that's what jesus said right jesus said that he came to serve and not to be served and he did by living fully and completely for his people and so because our master our lord served us so magnificently shouldn't it be natural for us like paul to see ourselves as servants of christ servants of jesus Christ. Paul certainly knew the words of Christ in Mark 10 after James and John request to rule on the right and left of Jesus. Jesus says, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many son of man came not to be served but to serve to give his life as ransom for many see it's truths like that that revolutionize paul's thinking it's truths like that that should revolutionize our thinking as we enter into a new year 2022. Our thoughts should be about Christ and who we are in him along the lines of what Paul says here. Jesus is our Lord. Jesus is our master, our God. He came into this world as a servant, as a slave he even says came into this world in order to give his life as ransom for you for me paul knows this so well doesn't he he knows the gospel intimately the gospel has been integrated into his heart into his soul into who he is truths like this shaped his very life everything that he did can't help but see himself in light of these truths if jesus christ his lord his savior was a servant who served him then paul saw himself as a servant if his lord his god suffered on this earth most certainly paul can suffer for the sake of christ his people his church if christ was poured out like a drink offering paul counts it an honor an honor to have the same mindset and so the question before us this evening is have we integrated the gospel into our hearts have we done so so much that we see ourselves as servants are we servants do we Do we embrace that title? Is that part of our Christian mind, our Christian thought? Would we say that about ourselves? Would people say that about us? What will they say about us when we are gone? Will they say, he, she knew Christ so well. They were such servants. They live fully, completely for Christ and for others. See, again, we might not be ministers. We might not be deacons. We might not be in full-time ministry, but we're all called to be servants of Christ. And so that's our calling tonight, isn't it? We're no better than our servant Lord. If He served, we too must serve. And oh, this is finally in this living obituary, the purpose of Paul's life. Paul says in verse 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. Paul's purpose in life was to make known the word of God. He goes on in this text to say, beginning at verse 26, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 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. If you notice, Paul uses some form of the expression making known the word of God here. In verse 25 he says to make known the word of God fully. Verse 26, a mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed or made known. Verse 27, to them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles. I find it interesting, but Paul uses three different words, different expressions here to essentially say the same thing. And I think the reason he does that is to highlight the different aspects of what his life and ministry was all about. Making known the gospel of Jesus Christ. See, Paul's purpose in life was to make known the word of God. To bring that to fully bear upon the lives of people. He uses a term, and at the end of verse 25, a word translated to fulfill. Or as one translation puts it, to present to you the word of God in its fullness. Or as the King James puts it, to fulfill the Word of God. It's a fascinating way of translating this term. See, Paul's purpose wasn't just about preaching or teaching, although that's what he did. He was a preacher, he was a teacher. Paul's purpose in life was to fulfill the Word of God through preaching, through teaching. And so I take Paul to be saying here in these three verses, His purpose is to, let's say, initiate, initiate the word of God by preaching, to initiate a kind of chain reaction, which ultimately is performed by God, but ends with the opening of the hearts of people to whom hear his preaching. That's why Paul will go on to say in verse 28, him, Christ, See, it's a process, isn't it? Maturity in Christ is a process. It's a process of God fulfilling His Word in the life of an individual. That's what Paul's life was about. That's what his mission was, his intention, his purpose, to initiate that process through preaching, warning, teaching. That's what got Paul up in the morning. He was excited to bring the Word of God to bear upon the lives of people, to see that Word fulfilled in their lives. And really, that's what really points out to me, the confidence that Paul had. See, he had great confidence in God's Word. We all know the Scripture that says God's Word will not return to him void, right? Isaiah 55, 11. Paul not only knew that passage, but he believed it to such an extent that he expected each and every time that he preached God's Word to be brought to fulfillment. See, Paul had the opportunity to preach to slaves, to soldiers, to governors, and even an emperor. Paul had great confidence, boldness in the Word of God. I think if we're honest with ourselves, we'd have to say we lack that boldness, don't we? We lack that confidence in God's Word. When it comes to sharing the good news of Christ, we can so often be more concerned about people's response in rejecting the message than we are about the power of God's Word to fulfill its work in the person's life. And with that mentality, we lose that boldness to speak of the gospel, to testify to the wonderful things that God has done for us. But you see, if Christ is preeminent, which He is, as Paul says already, as he so beautifully expounded on, why would we doubt? Why would we doubt? why would we doubt to to suffer for the sake of christ why would we doubt to to serve people to serve our lord to see ourselves as servants servants of the lord jesus christ why would we doubt to bring that gospel message that has so beautifully been fulfilled in our hearts and our minds, why would we doubt? Christ is preeminent. And so we too can have the mind that Paul had here, the mind of Christ, so to speak. We can be equipped, empowered, encouraged as we go into a new year 2022 to be servants of christ and even if the lord so determines that we suffer in this coming year we can do so knowing that we do because our good faithful god has determined for us too and if we do so for the sake of christ then we identify with him in his suffering and we too yes can rejoice let's pray lord we we thank you for the life of the man paul marvelous work that you did through him lord father it's our desire to have that similar mentality as paul we thank you father that you took a man who uh didn't know you a man who was headed in the opposite direction, Lord, and you did beautiful, marvelous things through him. I don't know where any of us are here tonight, Lord, but I know you can do marvelous things with anyone. And so as we enter this new year, Lord, 2022, I pray and ask, we pray and ask that you would work so marvelously in our hearts. Draw our hearts to you and to Jesus Christ, our Lord. Help us to integrate the gospel into our hearts, to be so enamored with Christ, to be captured by the work of Christ, his life and death for the forgiveness of our sins, that we too, like Paul, following the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would serve and would even be willing, Lord, and able to suffer for the sake of Christ. Bless us now. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.