Comment: There
are faithful brothers and sisters in our churches today, there are faithful
leaders too. Let me be clear about this as I know some will be willing to
doubt. Are you seeing the local church where you are a member as the body of
Christ, that is; each member working together to be a light to the community,
to young people, to the single moms and dads and to the poor and needy. If your
vision of church today misses this mark, it may just be “you” who are part of the
problem and not the solution. Romans 2:1 is a verse from the apostle Paul that
nails down what I am seeking to express. Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man,
whoever you are (Jew or gentile) who judge. For in whatever you judge
another you condemn yourself: for you who judge practice the same things.
One only needs to look back at chapter 1:18-32 and pick from that list of sins
to judge someone, but be careful; for the sins you pick out will be your own
and thus you condemn yourself.
Devotional: Colossians 4:7-15 – The apostle has good words
for the folks who ministered to him while he is in prison. It must have been
difficult for Paul to send some of these men away to other parts of the country,
but this difficulty is not because of a lack of trust in them. It is because he
knows the testimony of Christ in them. I know that I long to have a good
testimony of Christ in me. If I am not used of God through the church I attend
that it is because the testimony of Christ in me is faulty. All of us as
children of God through Christ our redeemer are to be sanctified for this one
purpose.
A child of God must KNOW
this: “I have been crucified with Christ (past tense); it
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by FAITH in the Son of God (present tense), who
loved me and gave Himself for me (past tense). One brief look at the
men that the apostle mentions in this closing chapter of Colossians will
explain this verse to us.
To start off; Demas along
with Luke the doctor stay with the apostle Paul, yet Demas in 2 Timothy 10
forsakes following the LORD. Paul explains that Demas loved the present world
and departed Paul for Thessalonica. Also, Crescens went to Galatia and Titus
left for Dalmatia. In the context of 2 Timothy it appears that these three men
did temporarily abandon their walk with the LORD. Demas and Crescens are not
mentioned again in scripture, but Titus is. Paul writes a personal letter to
Titus who is pastor of a church in Crete, this letter is part of our New Testament.
All of the men that the
apostle sends out are trustworthy, because they HAVE the testimony of Christ
abiding in them, even Mark! Mark had a history of deserting Christ (Acts
15:36-41) earlier in Paul’s ministry. Onesimus was at one time a thief, see the
letter to Philemon and we ought not forget the apostle himself who persecuted
the Church of Christ before being saved (Acts 9:1-9).
Here is the RUB! All of us, who are the children of God, have
the baggage of the unbeliever, but we have been washed in the Blood of the
LAMB. We have the testimony of Christ in us. “So! How are we doing with THAT?
Are we still judging our brothers and sisters of sins which we know and commit? Or, are
we sending them out to comfort and teach the afflicted. This really depends on
where the “eyes of our soul” are fixed. “Take heed to the ministry which you
received from the LORD, that you may fulfill it.” This ends our survey
of Colossians.
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