Colossians 4

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:30:36utc

4:2-4

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

5. A request for intercessory prayer.

The request for intercession is part of a general call to prayer. Three things are important in connection with prayer:

a. perseverance,

b. watchfulness and

c. thankfulness.

a. Perseverance, which is implied in the word "devote yourselves," insinuates the weakness of our human nature which tends to give up before the project is finished. The people of the Ekagi tribe in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, would start making a dug-out canoe by felling a tree, and the owner would come back every day till it was done. The greatest hindrance in prayer is lack of perseverance. We often do not continue to pray till we receive an answer. People who pray should give themselves with perseverance to their work, and prayer is work!

b. Watchfulness relates to danger that threaten us from the outside. The devil will try to hinder answers to prayer and, if possible, he will hinder prayer itself. Our eyes should be open to this danger so that the enemy will not be able to ambush us.

c. Gratitude or thankfulness sets the tone for prayer. We know that the Lord doesn't do anything without reason. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose," says Paul in Rom 8:28. Gratitude recognizes that difficult circumstances have a place in God's plan. Prayer without thankfulness shows a lack of sense of reality, and without being realistic we cannot make intercession.

Seen from a human viewpoint, Paul finds himself in an impossible and undesirable situation as he writes this epistle. It would have been more logical had Paul asked his reader to pray for his deliverance from prison. But Paul mentions his imprisonment only in passing. He is more concerned about the fact that his imprisonment might limit his ability to lead people to Christ. He also knows that in order to lead people to the Lord intercession is indispensable. In the same way as a military operation on the ground has to be covered by planes in the air flying above the troops, so witnessing is dependent upon intercession. Paul's request for prayer indicates that he understands the purpose of God's plan in his present circumstances. He expects an open door for his testimony, (a humorous metaphor for someone who is in prison). He must have found a rich harvest field among the soldiers who watched over him and probably also among his fellow prisoners. His imprisonment did not interrupt his ministry; his imprisonment was his ministry.

4:5-6

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

6. Advice regarding our relationship to people outside. 4:5,6

The apostle mentions four characteristics which should make our witness to non-believers attractive.

a. Wisdom

b. Pragmatism

c. Wittiness

d. Propriety

All of this sounds easier than it is. It should also be clear that the factors Paul mentions are human factors which can be used as helps to lead other to the Lord. They do not assure success. The conversion of people is the work of the Holy Spirit and not the result of our sharpness of mind or our sense of humor. Many conversions are brought about in spite of our lack of the healthy attributes Paul mentions. But this doesn't mean that we should not reach for the things Paul recommends.

a. Wisdom in the Bible begins with the fear of the Lord.

Prov. 1:7 says: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." If we live in fellowship with God, we will learn to apply knowledge to our practical every day life. God will give us wisdom and insight and knowledge for the purpose of leading others to Jesus. This is both the beginning as well as the essence of wisdom.

b. Pragmatism

"Make the most of every opportunity." The KJV translates this with "redeeming the time." The expression is borrowed from the market place. It means buying when the price is right. We have to look for opportunities, but we also have to watch for the opportunities God opens up for us. The image Paul paints for us is of someone going to the market to look for a bargain.

c. Wittiness.

We are expected to have a sense of humor. The word used here is related to the word for "grace." Our speech should be as sparkling and refreshing as the grace of God. "Seasoned with salt" is an interesting translation which may bother people with high blood pressure and those who have to follow a low salt diet. The intent is that we keep the attention of the people we talk to, because what we say is palatable.

d. Propriety.

We have to answer people's questions. Jesus did not dismiss the questions of the Samaritan woman. Her question regarding the proper place of worship was probably a maneuver to evade Jesus' penetrating statements. But Jesus gave her an answer which has enriched eternity. (See John 4:19-24). We cannot be too serious about our conversations with others who do not know the Lord.

Conclusion.

4:7-18

"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.

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.

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."

In these last verses Paul mentions some names of co-workers. We should have a closer look at these people. There are Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus-Justus, Epaphras, Luke, Demas, Nympha and Archippus - a total of ten.

Three times Paul assures the church that the person who brings this letter will tell them orally what his present condition is. There is a possibility of government censorship for letters written by prisoners and that Paul had to be careful what he wrote.

The first mentioned is Tychicus. He accompanies Paul during his trip from Greece to Jerusalem, according to Acts 20:4. Paul calls him here "a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord." According to Luke, he originated from Asia, probably Ephesus. We do not read if he had been involved in the planting of the church in Colosse. As we saw already, Paul mentions Epaphras as the original planter of the church. (See 1:7). We further meet Tychicus in Eph. 6:21; II Tim. 4:12, and Titus 3:12.

We know Onesimus from the epistle to Philemon, whose slave he was. He originated from Colosse as is evident from the phrase "who is one of you" in vs. 9. We conclude from this that this letter to the Colossians was written after the one to Philemon and that Philemon acted favorably on Paul's request to free Onesimus. It was up to Tychicus and Onesimus together to inform the church of Paul's circumstances in prison. In Eph. 6:21 Paul describes in almost the same words Tychicus' task. This is another reason for me to presume that the Ephesian epistle was actually the one written to Laodicea.

The next person we meet is Aristarchus. His sending greeting to the church implies that he is known to the church. We meet him for the first time in Paul's company in Ephesus. In Acts. 19:29 he is mentioned as one of Paul's traveling companions. In Acts 27:2 Luke calls him "a Macedonian from Thessalonica." During the uproar in Ephesus he was, together with Gaius, beaten up by the crowd. At that point Paul had not been to Thessalonica, yet and we get the impression that the fact that Aristarchus was a member of Paul's team has a lot to do with the planting of the church in Thessalonica. He, supposedly, accompanied Paul on his trip to Jerusalem, according to Acts. 20:4 and after that on the journey to Rome, according to Acts. 27:2. Whether he was imprisoned with Paul in Jerusalem we don't know. But in Col. 4:10 Paul calls him "my fellow prisoner." The above seems to indicate that it was during Paul's imprisonment in Rome that this epistle was sent.

Mark was not one of Paul's fellow prisoners, but he was one of the members of Paul's team. He is, of course, best known as the writer of the second Gospel. In the early stages of the Christian church, he witnessed the growth of the Gospel in the church which gathered in his mother's home. In Acts 12:12 and 25 his name is given as John Mark. He accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their return to Antioch after those two had handed over an offering to the church in Jerusalem, which had been taken on the basis of Agabus' prophecy about the coming famine. He made his first missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas, and he became after that the cause of the separation between Paul and Barnabas, according Acts 15:27-39. The fact that we find him again in Paul's company after so many years is probably material for an interesting biography. We meet him also in II Tim. 4:11; Philemon vs. 24 and I Pet. 5:13. Peter calls him "my son Mark." Probably, Mark joined Peter after the death of Paul. Here, in Col. 1:10 we read that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas. So it could be that the Mary in Acts 12:12 was Barnabas' sister. All this throws some interesting light on the things that happened in the relationship between Paul and Barnabas.

About Jesus Justus we don't read anything else in the Bible. He was, together with Paul and Mark, the only Jew on the team. Paul calls the whole group "fellow workers for the kingdom of God." As far as the world was concerned, these prisoners of the Roman Empire with their adherents, were totally insignificant. Yet, they were the ambassadors of the highest authority in the universe. They were of enormous comfort to Paul. This little sentence in vs. 11 gives us a little glimpse of the misery of the life of a prisoner. Paul needed human warmth and encouragement to make his suffering bearable.

Epaphras was the original messenger of the Gospel in Colosse, according to ch. 1:7. From 4:12 we understand that he originated from Colosse. His intercession for this church was just as intense as Paul's. It is even possible that Paul's intercession was inspired by Epaphras'. In Philemon vs.23 we read that he had been imprisoned together with Paul. We may suppose that, here also, he was in prison with Paul. Probably three members of the team were incarcerated: Paul, Aristarchus, and Epaphras. Epaphras did not limit his evangelizing to Colosse alone. He had also worked in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Probably those churches, also, were the fruit of his labor.

Luke and Demas are the last ones on the list. Luke is mentioned three time in the New Testament (Col. 4:14; II Tim. 4:11 and Phil. 1:24). In the book of Acts, Luke never mentions his own name. Evidently, he joined Paul's company in Acts 16:10. From that moment, he starts to use the word "we." He must have remained faithful to Paul till the very end because we find him still in II Tim. 4:11, shortly before Paul's execution. As a medical man he probably functioned as Paul's personal physician. The world owes a lot to this modest Greek.

Demas is mentioned twice with Luke in the same verse. In II Tim. 4:10 we read, however, that he deserted Paul "because he loved this world." Pressure became too much for him and he quit. What happened and whether he lost his faith, we are not told. This desertion must have hurt Paul deeply; his heartache is evident from his urgent request to Timothy in II Tim. 4:10 to come as soon as possible.

The name Nympha is only found in vs. 15. Archippus is mentioned again in Philemon vs. 2. We could suppose that Nympha was Archippus' wife since Paul speaks about a church that meets at their home. It could be that Nympha is the same person as Apphia in Philemon vs. 2. If we suppose that the epistle to the Colossians was written after the one to Philemon, Archippus must have backslid spiritually in the meantime; hence, Paul's admonition to him in vs. 17. He was probably the pastor of the church.

A greeting in Paul's own handwriting we also find in I Cor. 16:21; Gal. 6:11; II Thess. 3:17, and Philemon vs. 19. This must have been a substitute for a signature because in each of these verses Paul emphasizes that this is his way of identifying himself. It is possible that there were fraudulent letters in circulation.

Again, Paul make mention of his imprisonment and, just as in ch. 4:3, he asks for prayer. This short remark makes us understand how much Paul must have suffered.

The epistle concludes with the greeting with which it started. "Grace" (charis). In conclusion, we can say that this epistle gives a sublime exposition of what kind of life a man has to live who has been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son God loves. This is the way we ought to live, and this is the way we ought to pray for each other.