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Welcome to Day 5 of our Look Through Colossians 1. I want to start today with a
question. What does it take to have the ministry impact on other people's lives
of an Apostle Paul?

You look at the Apostle Paul and his impact on people's lives is lasting even to
today. His impact on people's lives in his day was incredibly powerful. One
temptation we have is to say, "Well, I could never do anything like that and
maybe I couldn't, but couldn't I learn something from him?

Isn't there something different that could happen in my life by learning from
his heart and how he followed Jesus Christ? " Of course there is. And these
verses that we're going to look at today beginning in Colossians 1.

24, they clearly show Paul's heart for ministry. And they give you and I a
personal checkup on our heart for ministry. In fact, there are four questions in
this heart check for ministry that I see from the Apostle Paul.

You might call this a treadmill that you're getting on or a breathing test or an
EKG or a healthy heart checkup. You can call it whatever you want, but the truth
is the Bible tells me I need to examine myself sometimes. And if I'm going to be
a servant of others, I've found I have to examine myself regularly because it's
easy to get caught up in serving myself.

It's easy to focus on me. So let's let Paul's example help us to check our
hearts today when it comes to serving others. And the first question he has in
this heart check is probably the toughest.

You want to know about service in your life? You want to have a healthy attitude
towards service and serve others in a way that changes lives? First question you
have to ask is, "What is my attitude towards suffering?

" That's what Paul talks about in 1. 24. "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for
you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's
afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the church.

" There are four checkpoints in this verse that talk about a healthy attitude
towards suffering. First checkpoint, "I rejoice. " How can you rejoice in
sufferings?

You don't rejoice in the pain. You don't rejoice in the sufferings themselves.
You rejoice in the results.

"I rejoice in what was suffered for you. " Have you ever asked yourself how many
prayers and tears and how much heartache and disappointment somebody may have
gone through in order that you might come to Christ? Rejoice.

"I rejoice that when I suffer, my heart goes out to someone else. " There are
results to that. Rejoicing is a part of a healthy attitude towards suffering.

And then Paul says, "I rejoice in what I suffered for you. " He was willing to
suffer for other people's growth. Some people will only suffer.

They'll suffer, but they'll only suffer to the point of personal gain. Well,
that's not the kind of suffering that's talked about here. If you're not ever
willing to suffer for someone else, then you don't have a healthy attitude
towards suffering.

Selfish suffering is still selfish. Paul says, "I suffer as a servant because I
love somebody else. " And it makes a difference in their life.

The third checkpoint, "I rejoice for you. " The third checkpoint is, "I fill up
Christ's afflictions. " Now that, Christ's afflictions and me filling them up,
that is the most easily misunderstood phrase in the whole book.

And it gives us a chance for an important rule of Bible study. You always
understand unclear passages in the light of clear passages. Some people say,
"Fill up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

" Does that mean that somehow Paul was finishing the work of the cross and that
we have to do that today? There's something more that needs to be done than
Jesus did? Well, clearly, the book of Hebrews, the book of Romans, the books of
the New Testament say again and again and again, "No, everything that needed to
be done on the cross was done by Jesus.

" So what does this mean? Well, this word "affliction" that's used here is never
used in regard to the cross. Afflictions are what Jesus went through before the
cross.

Satan's opposition, his personal hurt from meeting people's needs, the
persecution he faced. And so what Paul is saying is, "I did what Jesus would
have done. " Jesus died.

Jesus isn't here anymore, but I am. And I'm a representative of Jesus Christ.
I'm a part of his body.

And so I do what Jesus would have done. And when I do that, I am filling up that
which is lacking. I am doing what Jesus would have done.

Jesus said, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. " And they do.
And when they persecute you, maybe it's in some small way at work or the things
people say about you at school, when they persecute you, you can realize I'm
doing this because Jesus would have done this if he were here.

And then Paul says one final thing about a healthy attitude towards suffering.
He says, "I do it for the sake of his body. " Don't suffer alone.

If you're suffering alone in a lonely way, not connected to anyone else, that is
unhealthy. Paul says, "I do this as a part of and on behalf of the body of
Christ. " We're in this together.

We suffer together. We give our lives together for Jesus Christ. You want to be
a healthy servant like the apostle Paul, have the kind of impact that he did?

Question one is, "What is my attitude towards suffering? " Question two is,
"What is my reason for serving? " He talks about that in verses 25 to 27.

"I have become, it's the church's servant, by the commission God gave me to
present to you the word of God in all its fullness. The mystery that has been
kept hidden for ages and generations, but now has been disclosed to the saints.
To them, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles, the glorious riches of
this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

" Paul talks about his reason for serving. He says, "I am a servant by
commission. " God said, "I want you to do this.

" And Paul says, "I said yes. " He's a servant by commission. Now, why do you
serve?

What's the reason? This is the only one that will last, a sense of God's call,
God's choice, God's commission in your life. If you serve just because you feel
like, "Well, there's a lot of needs out there," you're just going to get tired
out.

If you serve just because you feel like, "Well, it meets my needs and makes me
feel good about myself," that won't last long. Now, service that lasts, it comes
from a commission that was given by God. Now, Paul notes here that this
commission that he had was to reveal a mystery.

A question a lot of people have is, "Well, why did God keep it hidden? " The
idea of mystery here isn't something that God wanted to keep hidden. It's the
idea of something that God wanted to eventually reveal, something that was once
hidden and now is revealed and clear.

This word that Paul uses for mystery, we might use the word discovery. And the
aha here, the discovery, the eureka here, it can finally be told is Christ is in
you. And that's the hope of glory.

That's what Paul wanted everybody to know. He is a servant by commission. That's
why he served.

Question number three in this heart check for effective ministry is, "How big is
my vision for people? " Colossians 1, 28. We proclaim him admonishing and
teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone perfect in
Christ.

You want to know Paul's vision for people? You can see it in two words, everyone
and perfect. We want to present everyone perfect in Christ.

That is a big vision. Now, in the end, this vision is dependent on God. And
who's going to come to him?

God is calling. God is at work. But Paul says, as I preach, as I reach out to
people, I'm not filtering in the back of my mind, "Well, maybe some people are
called and some people aren't.

" No, he says, "My vision is I want to present everyone, everyone. " Perfect in
Christ. The Bible tells us that we're laborers in the field, and we have to
leave some of the final judgment up to God.

So in the meantime, what should we do? Think that some are in or some are out?
No, Paul says, "I want to work as if everyone is in.

" That's my vision. And he says, "I want to present everyone perfect in Christ.
" The idea there is the idea of complete.

Not just saved, not just into heaven by the skin of my teeth, but fully mature,
growing in Christ. I want you to notice as we talk about God's vision for people
in this one verse, verse 28, there are three words that Paul uses to talk about
how God expresses his wisdom through us to get to this point. He uses the word
proclaim.

That means tell. He uses the word admonish. That means I warn people.

And he uses the word teach. That means I show people, both by the way I live and
how I'm showing them how to do it themselves. You have a big vision for people.

It has to come down to this. You got to tell people things. Tell them the truth.

Tell them the good news. You got to warn people of things. And then you have to
show them.

Show them how to live this life. How big is my vision for people? The reason
Paul was able to reach so many people and make such an incredible difference for
Christ's sake in his life is he proclaimed him in order that he could present
everyone perfect in Christ.

That was his heart. When you start thinking about that big a vision, you get to
the fourth question about ministry, and that is, what is my source of strength?
How am I going to do a job like this?

Verse 29, "To this end I labor," Paul wrote, "struggling with all his energy,
"which so powerfully works in me. " Paul says, "I've got labor to do. "I've got
work to do.

"I've even got some struggling to do, "but I do it with his energy, "which so
powerfully works in me. "Not my energy, but his energy. " And so the question
is, how do I tap into that?

How do I tap into his energy? First of all, I've noticed that when it's my work,
my idea, I use my energy. When it's his work, his direction, I'm more invited to
use his energy.

But I've also noticed there are many times in my life when it's his work and I'm
still trying to tap into my energy. So the crucial question here is not, listen,
how will I get more energy to get more done? The crucial question is, what does
God want me to do?

You see, when I'm thinking about how can I get more done, that's a my energy
question. When I'm thinking about what does God want me to do, that is a his
energy question. And when I can remind myself I'm doing this because God wants
me to do it, I'm sure of that.

Then I'm tapping into his energy. I'm relying on his strength. I'm not just
relying on myself.

I realize I'm a part of what God's doing here, not the whole. I realize I don't
have to push this rock up the hill because God's at work here. I'm just doing
what he's called me to do.

I do it with his energy, which so powerfully works in me. Now, as we pray today,
let's talk to God about serving. And just say to God, God, I want to have your
attitude towards suffering, being willing to give myself for others.

Help me to stop living so selfishly. God, I want to have your reason for serving
because you called me. Purify that in my heart day by day.

God, give me your vision for people. And that you're reaching out to all people.
Give me your vision for what you can do in an individual's life.

And God, I want to rely on your source of strength. Not my strength, but your
strength. And I know that begins with me living out your will and not my will.

God, help me to serve in a way that makes a difference in this world today.
Whether anybody else notices it or not, that's not my concern. I want to serve
in a way that makes a difference for your sake in this world today.

In your name I pray. Amen. Join us next week.

We're going to be looking together at Colossians 2. It is a chapter of the Bible
that gives one of the clearest challenges and most encouraging challenges for
personal growth that you find anywhere in the New Testament. See you next week
for Colossians chapter 2.